Crew chief Chad Johnston was suspended one race for lug nuts that were not properly installed on the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet at Pocono Raceway.
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Chip Ganassi Racing won’t appeal the suspension, as the rules are fairly clear that a missing lug nut on a auto postrace would result in a one-race crew-chief suspension and a fine.
A spokesman for Chip Ganassi Racing said the team won’t appeal the penalty.
Kyle Larson will not have his regular crew chief for this week’s race at Michigan International Speedway after NASCAR penalized the team for the lug nut violation.
Johnston also was fined $20,000 and placed on probation the remainder of the year, NASCAR disclosed Wednesday in its weekly penalty report.
NASCAR has dropped the hammer once again when it comes to lug nuts.
The suspension is the fourth issued to a Sprint Cup crew chief since the rule was instituted five races ago at Kansas.
Also suspended for one race this season were crew chiefs for Kyle Busch, AJ Allmendinger and Kurt Busch, who won at Pocono with an interim drew chief.
NASCAR made very visible its crackdown on lug nuts starting with the Sprint All-Star race, when all cars were stopped on pit road – including victor Joey Logano after the race – for inspection.
Four drivers – Danica Patrick, Aric Almirola, Jamie McMurray and Regan Smith – were given written warnings for inspection violations at Pocono.
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– Matt DiBenedetto’s No. 83 team of BK Racing, warning, laser inspection.
