NASCAR handed down heavy penalties to Hendrick Motorsports and Kaulig Racing on Wednesday stemming from officials determining that the two Cup Series organizations improperly modified a part supplied by a third-party vendor that was installed on the teams’ cars. Here’s what you need to know:
All four Hendrick teams, car Nos. 5, 9, 24 and 48, are deducted 100 driver and owner points, each respective crew chief is fined $100,000 and suspended four races. The drivers impacted are Alex Bowman, William Byron, Kyle Larson and Josh Berry, who is temporarily filling in for the injured Chase Elliott.
Kaulig was assessed similar penalties as Hendrick, though only one of Kaulig’s two teams was found in violation of the rule. That team is the No. 31 team for driver Justin Haley.
All five teams lose 10 playoff points. Hendricks’ penalty is the biggest issued to one team in NASCAR history.
In a separate penalty announced Wednesday, Denny Hamlin was deducted 25 driver points and fined $50,000 for intentionally crashing Ross Chastain during Sunday’s race at Phoenix.
Why were the teams penalized?
When NASCAR rolled out the Next Gen car before the 2022 season, officials made it clear any unapproved tinkering with the parts and pieces supplied by third-party vendors would result in NASCAR issuing significant penalties to the offending team. Last year, both RFK Racing and Front Row Motorsports ran afoul of this rule resulting in penalties for each organization.
Advertisement
Now, Hendrick and Kaulig are feeling NASCAR’s wrath after officials found that each organization improperly modified the louvers that serve as air vents on the hood of cars.
The infractions were discovered last Friday when officials conducted a random inspection prior to on-track activity beginning at Phoenix Raceway, the site of that weekend’s race. The louvers were then confiscated and sent to NASCAR’s research and development center in Concord, N.C., for further examination to determine whether the part had been altered in some manner.
How big of an impact is this?
These are massive penalties levied by NASCAR and a big blow to both Hendrick and Kaulig. This is especially impactful to Hendrick, as the four-car juggernaut has the reasonable expectation that three of its drivers would easily qualify for the playoffs, at a minimum, because of the points they accumulated during the regular season. That option no longer exists. (Elliott was already in a must-win scenario due to missing time with a left leg injury that makes it virtually impossible he’d qualify for the playoffs via points.)
With these penalties, only Byron is essentially assured of a playoff spot due to him winning at Phoenix and at Las Vegas on March 5. Bowman and Larson, neither of whom have yet won a race, drop from first and fifth in points, respectively, to 27th and 34th, respectively.
And while it’s likely Bowman and Larson will win one of the 22 remaining regular season races to secure playoff eligibility, there are no assurances either will. Thereby the possibility exists that one, or both, could fail to make the playoffs — something completely unexpected at the beginning of the season.
As for Haley and Kaulig, they will also need to win to make the playoffs. The difference between them and Hendrick, however, is that Haley isn’t considered a driver likely to qualify for the playoffs nor is Kaulig regarded as one of NASCAR’s super teams that frequently vies for the championship. This is still an impactful penalty to Kaulig, just not to the same level.
What’s next?
Both Hendrick and Kaulig have the option to separately appeal the penalties. Should they do so the case would then go before a three-member appeals board that will hear arguments from both sides before rendering a decision. To win the appeal, Hendrick and Kaulig would need two of the appellate officers to vote in its favor.
Required reading
(Photo: Gary A. Vasquez / USA Today)