NASCAR Cup Series

Blickensderfer, No. 43 team fined for lug nut violation at Daytona

Published Mar. 2, 2017 9:20 a.m. ET

Tom Jensen

Drew Blickensderfer, crew chief for Aric Almirola and the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford, was fined $10,000 by NASCAR for not having all the lug nuts properly installed on the car.

The infraction was discovered during post-race inspection after the Daytona 500.

Almirola finished fourth in the Daytona 500 behind winner Kurt Busch, Ryan Blaney and AJ Allmendinger.

Blickensderfer, who was the only Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series crew chief fined for a violation at the Daytona 500, was penalized under NASCAR Rule Book Sections 10.9.10.4: Tires and Wheels Note: Lug nut(s) not properly installed.

In the NASCAR XFINITY Series, Patrick Magee, crew chief of the Johnny Davis-owned No. 01 Chevrolet driven to a 10th-place finish by Harrison Rhodes, was fined $5,000, also for improperly installed lug nuts.