NASCAR Cup Series

Ambrose pit crew member suspended for chasing tire

Published Mar. 11, 2009 12:55 a.m. ET

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The crew member who chased a tire across pit road, forcing NASCAR to throw a race-changing caution at Atlanta Motor Speedway, was suspended four races on Tuesday.

Road of doom

Jimmy Watts' pit road mistake made a big impact in Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500, but it wasn't the only blunder. Jeff Hammond looks at the pit road errors that proved costly on race day.

Jimmy Watts, the gas man for Marcos Ambrose's crew, was also placed on probation through the end of the year. Frank Kerr, the crew chief for the No. 47 Toyota, was also placed on probation because NASCAR deemed him responsible for the actions of the team.

Neither NASCAR or JTG Daughtery Racing, which owns Ambrose's team, commented on the incident Tuesday night.

Watts chased a rolling tire across pit road and into the infield grass when it got away from Ambrose's stall during a round of green-flag stops 67 laps into Sunday's race. NASCAR called a caution and the action put more than half the field at least one lap down.

NASCAR officials have indicated that because the tire came to a stop, they likely would have waited until the pit stops had cycled through to call the caution. But because Watts was dangerously close to the racing surface, where cars were passing by at nearly 200 mph, NASCAR had to throw the yellow flag.

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