The part shown was in violation by just .015 and 0.037; $75,000 NASCAR fine
On June 7th, Erik Jones and the No. 43 Legacy Motor Club team were handed an L1 penalty. The violation came after the race at WWT Raceway during the NASCAR R&D inspection.
View photos of the illegal part modification below.
Violation: (14.1.C&D) Overall Assembled Vehicle Rules; (14.1.2.B) Engineering Change Log
Penalty: The crew chief was suspended for two races and fined $75,000. Erik Jones and the No. 43 team were docked 60 driver points, 60 owner points and 5 playoff points.
“We would much rather be talking about the phenomenal racing we just had… than penalties,” Elton Sawyer, NASCAR senior vice president of competition, said last week. “We are the custodians of the garage.”
NASCAR noted the violation was in regard to the greenhouse area.
Erik Jones handed L1 penalty after WWT Raceway; Team statement
No. 43 Appeal Ruling
Upon hearing the testimony, the decisions of the National Motorsports Appeals Panel are:
– “That the Appellant violated the Rule(s) set forth in the Penalty Notice.”
– “That the Panel affirms and upholds the original Penalty assessed by NASCAR.”
In reaching the above decision, the panel provided the following explanation:
“The penalty was consistent with previously assessed penalties for similar situations. The rule book is clear that teams are not allowed to modify single-source parts, and therefore the penalty was upheld.”
The Appeals Panel members for this hearing:
– Chuck Deery
– Dixon Johnston
– Cathy Rice
Illegal parts put on display at Atlanta
Recently, NASCAR has started displaying illegal parts. Following the appeal, NASCAR brought the part with them to Atlanta Motor Speedway and allowed teams and media to have a look.
The violation happened on the back windshield. NASCAR allows teams to smooth the mounts. However, NASCAR requires teams to leave .130 of material between the threads. In the case of the No. 43 team, they only had 0.93 on the left mount and 0.115 right mount.
