No. 18 Monster Energy Series team penalized post-Sonoma

The No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series was penalized Wednesday for lug nuts not properly installed in last weekend’s race at Sonoma Raceway.

Per the penalty, crew chief Ben Beshore was fined $20,000 and suspended for one race.

Kyle Busch finished fifth in the Toyota / Save Mart 350 in the No. 18 Toyota, working with a team that already had been utilizing an interim crew chief in Beshore, who was a replacement for Adam Stevens. Stevens is due to serve the final race of a four-race suspension Saturday in Daytona, a penalty incurred for an errant wheel during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series’ June 4 event at Dover International Speedway.

RELATED: More on Stevens’ suspension

A spokesperson for Joe Gibbs Racing said that team engineer Jacob Canter would serve as crew chief for the No. 18 this weekend at Daytona International Speedway.

Busch led once for three laps at Sonoma. Sunday marked his third consecutive top-10 finish on Beshore’s watch.

In the XFINITY Series, the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing team was penalized following last weekend’s race in Iowa for lug nuts not properly installed. Crew chief Danny Stockman Jr. was fined $5,000.

Daniel Hemric drove the No. 21 Chevrolet to a 21st-place finish in last Saturday’s XFINITY Series American Ethanol E15 250 Presented by Enogen.