NASCAR says no penalties stemming from Talladega Chase elimination race
Despite the controversial weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, NASCAR said in a statement early Tuesday morning there would be no penalties issued.
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Some competitors accused Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick of wrecking Trevor Bayne on purpose to draw a caution, freeze the field and end the race. Harvick denied any wrong intentions, saying his motor was failing in the closing laps. After the race on Sunday, NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton said they did not see anything "of suspect."
The sanctioning body said in the statement it reviewed an "extensive amount of material" from the CampingWorld.com 500, "including video, team radio transmissions and downloadable data."
As a result, the results of Sunday’s race stand, and the Chase standings remain official, with Denny Hamlin, Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth being eliminated from title contention.
The statement also indicated there would be no further penalties stemming from infractions discovered throughout the weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. Prior to qualifying on Saturday, NASCAR forced all four Stewart-Haas Racing teams to change the radiator inlet duct work after officials deemed they were not assembled correctly.
This forced the four SHR teams to replace the entire duct work system before heading to the grid for qualifying, a process that took nearly two hours and caused frustration for SHR vice president of competition Greg Zipadelli.
In addition, each car taken back to the NASCAR R&D Center — Joey Logano’s No. 22 Ford, Earnhardt’s No. 88 Chevrolet, Kyle Busch’s No. 18 Toyota, Newman’s No. 31 Chevrolet and Michael Waltrip’s No. 98 Toyota — and all cleared post-race inspection with no issues.