Four NASCAR Crew Chiefs Penalized After Charlotte Roval Mistakes

In the wake of the Charlotte Roval playoff race, NASCAR’s latest penalty report has brought big repercussions for several teams and their crew chiefs. The fallout from the race saw drivers such as Austin Dillon and Alex Bowman impacted by the penalties.

Following the race, NASCAR issued suspensions for crew members from Richard Childress Racing’s No. 3 team. Specifically, Joshua Thomas, the front tire changer, and Nick Covey, who works on the jack, received suspensions for two upcoming Cup Series events due to a tire-related infraction.

This penalty stems from a tire coming off Austin Dillon’s car during the 81st lap of the Cup Series race. Dillon, with past victories such as the Daytona 500 in 2018 and the Coca-Cola 600 in 2017, finds his crew hit at a crucial point in the playoff season. The team is set to miss these key individuals in races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway.

In the Xfinity Series, penalties were also handed down, this time just in the form of fines. Four crew chiefs were fined $5,000 each due to unsecured lug nuts on their cars. This issue affected JR Motorsports, represented by James Pohlman working with driver Justin Allgaier, and Phillip Bell with driver Sammy Smith.

Also penalized were Andy Street from Richard Childress Racing, overseeing driver Austin Hill, and Jeff Meendering of Joe Gibbs Racing, who is responsible for driver Chandler Smith.

The Charlotte Roval race, which decided the final lineup for NASCAR’s Round of 8, was dominated by Kyle Larson. Driving for Hendrick Motorsports, Larson led 62 of the 109 laps, earning his sixth win of the season. This performance puts him at the top seed for the impending Round of 8, with a comfortable 33-point advantage over the cutline.

Reflecting on his performance, Larson commented on his rare stress-free experience.

“Really, it’s the first time in my playoff career I’ve not been close to the cutline, so it was good to kind of have a little bit stress-free of a weekend.” He attributes part of his success to simulation practice, a tool he admits using sparingly.

“It’s known that I don’t really use the sim much, and I was in the sim this week. It really helped me get into a rhythm I think early on and helped us kind of fine-tune our car, too.”

The race at Charlotte Roval concluded on a contentious note with the disqualification of Alex Bowman and his No. 48 team. The team faced severe penalties when Bowman’s car was found underweight during the post-race inspection. This incident resulted in Bowman dropping below the playoff cutline, enabling Joey Logano to advance into the Round of 8.