NASCAR Cup Series

Paul Wolfe to miss Talladega as Penske withdraws suspension deferral

Published May. 2, 2017 1:44 p.m. ET

Tom Jensen

The on-again, off-again suspension of Team Penske’s Paul Wolfe is on again, at least for one race.

Late Tuesday morning, NASCAR announced that the Penske squad “has withdrawn its request to defer the crew chief suspension of Paul Wolfe and the National Motorsports Appeals Panel has granted that request.”

Wolfe’s suspension is now in effect for this weekend at Talladega.

Wolfe, crew chief of Brad Keselowski’s No. 2 Team Penske Ford, was suspended for three races and fined $65,000 after the March race at Phoenix Raceway, where the No. 2 failed NASCAR’s Laser Inspection Station’s skew measurement in post-race inspection.

Keselowski and Team owner Roger Penske were docked 35 driver and team owner points, respectively, as part of the penalty.

The team appealed the penalty on April 12, but the penalty was upheld by the three-member National Motorsports Appeals panel.

Penske then appealed that ruling to the National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer, who was scheduled to hear it last week. But that hearing was postponed due to illness.

Penske still plans to go through the National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer hearing, NASCAR said, but Wolfe will be out at Talladega

Wolfe already served one race of his three-race suspension, so he has two races left to sit out. When he was suspended at Auto Club Speedway, Team Penske filled his slot with Brian Wilson.