November 5, 2024 | By NASCAR.com

NASCAR issues penalties following Martinsville race

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR penalized the Nos. 1, 3 and 23 Cup Series teams for Member Conduct violations during Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway.

After an investigation of the on-track data and team scanners from the final laps of Sunday’s Round of 8 elimination race, NASCAR determined the actions of those involved violated sections 4.4.B&D: NASCAR Member Conduct of the Rule Book, which include race manipulation and actions detrimental to stock car racing.

Drivers Ross Chastain (Trackhouse Racing), Austin Dillon (Richard Childress Racing), and Bubba Wallace (23XI Racing) were each hit with a loss of 50 driver points and a $100,000 fine. In addition, NASCAR also fined the owners of each team $100,000 and deducted 50 owner points each.

Crew chiefs Phil Surgen, Justin Alexander and Bootie Barker, along with their respective spotters Brandon McReynolds, Brandon Benesch and Freddie Kraft, were all suspended for the 2024 season finale at Phoenix Raceway.

Additionally, team executives Tony Lunders, Keith Rodden and Dave Rogers were also suspended for the 2024 finale at Phoenix.

Richard Childress Racing, 23XI Racing and Trackhouse Racing all announced that they would appeal the ruling.

“We took and looked at the most recent penalty that we had written for an infraction, very similar, which was the 41 car a couple of years ago at the Roval,” NASCAR Senior VP of Competition Elton Sawyer said. “We felt like we wanted to ramp this one up and we did, we did that in a way that we included team leadership. And this one, something that we feel like that, you know, we want to get our point across that it’s a responsibility of all of us, the team owners, the team leadership as well as ourselves here at NASCAR to uphold the integrity of our sport.”

In the late stages of last weekend’s 500-lap race, William Byron’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet began to fade from the front of the field, which led to a series of on-track events that eventually resulted in Tuesday’s penalties.

Every spot lost dropped Byron closer to the elimination line, and he settled into sixth place on the track, just one point ahead of Christopher Bell in the provisional playoff standings and in position to advance to the Championship 4. Bell was running in 19th place at the time, the first car one lap down.

As Ryan Blaney pulled away for his Championship 4-clinching win, the Chevrolets of Chastain and Dillon effectively created a blockade behind Byron, both running side-by-side and not passing the No. 24 car over the final 10 laps. Completed passes by those cars may have dropped Byron out of the Championship 4.

Elsewhere on track, Wallace’s No. 23 Toyota slowed significantly over the final five laps, eventually getting lapped by Blaney. On the final lap, Bell surged past the slowing Wallace entering Turn 3, slid through the rubber marbles on the track and rode his car along the outside retaining wall coming to the checkered flag in 18th place.

While initially it appeared that Bell would advance to the Championship 4 via a tiebreaker, NASCAR reviewed the video in the minutes after the checkered flag and determined Bell’s move was a safety violation. The result of that call moved Bell to the final car one lap down for a 22nd-place finish, giving Byron enough points to advance. …

In other penalty news, Richard Childress Racing crew members Josh Sobecki (jack) and Michael Russell (front changer) were suspended two races (through the Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium) for a safety violation when the No. 8 Cup car lost a wheel at Martinsville. …

Xfinity Series driver Chandler Smith of Joe Gibbs Racing was fined $10,000 for violating section 4.4.D: NASCAR Member Conduct of the rule book, which includes member-to-member confrontations, after an altercation with Cole Custer in Saturday’s race at Martinsville. …

Craftsman Truck Series Championship 4 driver Ty Majeski for ThorSport Racing was fined $12,500 for failing to perform a media obligation.