“I felt like the message was sent that we’re not going to tolerate that.”
NASCAR raced at Kansas Speedway over the weekend. It marked the first trip to a comparable 1.5-mile track since May at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The No. 71 driven by Michael McDowell as well as the No. 88 driven by Shane van Gisbergen were handed significant penalties before the green flag. Both teams cleared the full inspection process before touching the track for practice.
However, NASCAR officials caught both teams making unapproved adjustments after clearing the inspection line. Crew chiefs Travis Peterson (No. 71) and Stephen Dran (No. 88) were both ejected.
Additionally, both drivers were required to start at the rear of the field. They also served a stop-and-go penalty at the start of the race causing them both to go a lap down on lap 2 of the race.
NASCAR says the message was delivered…
Three NASCAR crew members ejected from Kansas Speedway
NASCAR comments
“When you look at our role as the sanctioning body, we want to make sure that every race team, every driver, every team owner that they’re feeling like they’re playing on an equitable playing field,” NASCAR’s Elton Sawyer stated via Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.
“They’re done a really good job of making sure that when you walk into that garage, the teams feel that way.”
“As they went through the inspection process, they passed all of the stations. The optical scan, underbody scanner, all the safety, engine inspection. All of that, they passed.”
“When they pushed their car out to pit road, they made some adjustments along the way that was not approved. That puts the whole system, the whole integrity of the system, puts it in jeopardy.”
“So, that penalty has to be strong. It was a crew chief suspension for the weekend. You lose your qualifying spot and then you do a stop-and-go.”
“It do put both of those cars, the No. 71 and the No. 88 lap down early in the race. They were both able to overcome that. In some cases, that’s not the case.”
“I felt like the message was sent that we’re not going to tolerate that. At Daytona, we had a similar situation with the No. 24 car and the results were the same.”
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“We’ll continue to keep an eye on that. If the teams elect to continue to make those unapproved adjustments then they’ll be consequences that come with it.”
This weekend, NASCAR is rolling into Charlotte, North Carolina. The Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL will host the playoff elimination event.
Kansas Race Results: September 28, 2025 (NASCAR Cup Series)
