NASCAR comes down hard, suspending three crew chiefs
NASCAR came down hard on Wednesday, suspending three crew chiefs for various infractions that occurred last weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Hardest hit was Brian Pattie, crew chief for Greg Biffle and the No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford. Pattie was fined $50,000, suspended from all NASCAR Series Championship Points Events through June 15, and placed on NASCAR probation through Dec. 31; team has been assessed with the loss of 15 championship owner and 15 championship driver points.
Pattie was tagged for unapproved body modifications, per NASCAR's rule book (Sections 12-1; 20.4.1; 20.4.2 a,b,c; 12.5.3.4.1 c).
Meanwhile, Tony Gibson, crew chief for Kurt Busch's Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet, and AJ Allmendinger's crew chief Randall Burnett were each suspended for this weekend's event at Pocono Raceway because of lug nut violations
Burnett and Gibson each was fined $20,000 and placed on probation through the end of the year.
Other, lesser penalties also were handed out: Mike Bugarewicz, crew chief for Tony Stewart, was placed on probation, while Paul Menard will be docked 15 minutes of practice time at Pocono for a pre-race inspection issue.
The teams of Aric Almirola, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth all got written warnings for pre-qualifying inspection issues.