NASCAR has issued a clear warning: Future rear window violations will suffer a larger penalty

NASCAR’s competition director issues a warning to the teams ahead of Charlotte

Suspensions, tens of thousands of dollars as well as owner and driver points deductions have been handed out for rear window violations this season. Harvick might not have been the first do it. However, he was the first to get caught at the NASCAR R&D Center back on March 4th.

At Dover, two teams were hit with L1 penalties, suspensions and dual $50,000 fines relating to the rear window. That trend continued last weekend as Kyle Larson was hit with another section 20.4.8.1.b violation.

After the race, Larson stated that the rear window dropping was related to contact with Ryan Blaney. However, fans have pointed out photos that show the failure as early as stage 1. In addition, driver to crew communication from various teams pointed it out as well.

 

“This issue with the rear windows is really bad for all of us,” Miller told NASCAR.com.

“It’s bad for the sport, it’s bad for the broadcasters … it’s bad for the teams, and the reason why this one is so bad is the optics of it. It’s like everybody sees these things. They’re out in the open and it gets all of the negative wheels spinning in directions that we don’t need them spinning in.

“So what we plan on doing is, moving forward, any of these rear window penalties, we’re probably going to ramp it up to the high end of the L1 scale. We’ve kind of been in the middle and if we need to ramp it up further than that to where we get this under control and stop (this), then we’re prepared to go further. So yeah, we will change our stance on this because this needs to stop.”

“There’s performance there, so they’re going to try to get it as close to the edge as they can,” Miller says.

“When you do that, you always run the risk of it running afoul when things happen out there on the race track. It’s like the dynamics of the race track are fairly hard to predict and when you’re pushing the envelope with the strength of that structure, things can go wrong in a hurry.”

L1 penalty limits

NASCAR is now hinting that rear window penalties will be elevated going forward. So what would that be?

The max fine for an L1 penalty from a dollar amount is $75,000. The previous window violations have all resulted in a $50,000 fine.

The max points deduction for an L1 penalty if 40. Previous window violations have resulted in 20 point penalties. Going forward, it sounds like NASCAR is giving a clear warning that the next violation will result in a driver and owner points deduction of 40 points.

More

Related: Kansas Speedway: Penalty Report

Related: NASCAR VP expects a penalty for Kyle Larson

Related: Kyle Larson says contact on the track caused the rear window issue

Related: Daniel Suarez says his rear window failed inspection due to a bumpy race track

Related: Dover International Speedway: Penalty Report

Related: Kevin Harvick hit with L1 penalty for window bracing

Related: Kevin Harvick wants to see NASCAR rule with an iron fist

Related: NASCAR is looking at things that could potentially remove the R&D Center inspection

Links

Kyle Larson | Kansas Speedway | NASCAR

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