NASCAR announced Tuesday it has issued four-week suspensions to Michael Waltrip Racing and JTG Daugherty Racing crew chiefs and car chiefs for illegal windshields found in opening day inspection Friday at Talladega Superspeedway.
NASCAR also fined the crew chiefs $50,000 and penalized the teams and drivers 25 points.
The windshields, which were never used in competition, did not have the appropriate thickness. MWR competition director Bobby Kennedy, who was put on probation through the end of the year, said Friday it was a mistake at the shop with the way the windshields were installed.
Crew chiefs for Martin Truex Jr. (Chad Johnston), David Reutimann (Rodney Childers) and Bobby Labonte (Frank Kerr) were suspended for four weeks—the remainder of the season. JTG Daugherty Racing announced that Brian Burns will be crew chief for Labonte in place of Kerr.
Also suspended were car chiefs Steve Channing (Reutimann), Raymond Fox (Labonte) and Anthony Lunders (Truex).
Truex, Reutimann and Labonte were docked 25 points, and the teams also lost 25 points in the owner standings.
With the penalties, Truex dropped from 22nd to 24th in the standings; Reutimann remained 28th and Labonte 29th.
JTG Daugherty Racing and MWR announced their organizations will not appeal the penalties.
Pat Tryson will serve as interim crew chief for Truex at Martinsville this weekend, while race mechanic Allen Mincey will step into the role of interim car chief for the team.
Kennedy will act as interim crew chief for Reutimann’s group, and Chris Hall (race mechanic) will serve as car chief.
According to the team, the crew and car chiefs “will return to their positions following their suspensions.”
