NASCAR levies P3 penalty; crew chief fined $15,000
RELATED: NASCAR official release
NASCAR issued a P3-level penalty against the JD Motorsports No. 4 team in the XFINITY Series on Tuesday for improperly secured ballast, which caused an accident during last weekend’s event at Iowa Speedway.
A piece of either lead or tungsten fell off the JD Motorsports No. 4 Chevrolet as driver Ross Chastain merged back onto the track during Saturday’s opening practice. The loose weight was then struck by the Viva Motorsports No. 55 entry of Jamie Dick, causing severe damage to the car’s A-pillar area, roof and windshield.
The infraction was a violation of sections 12.1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 20.17.2.1 (overall vehicle weight) of the 2015 NASCAR rule book, which deems that any and all ballast added to the vehicle must be “bolted inside an added ballast container, inside the main frame rails, and/or inside the front sway bar mounting tube.”
As a result, NASCAR fined crew chief Gary Cogswell $15,000 and placed him on probation through Dec. 31. Additionally, car chief Charles Kent was placed on NASCAR probation through Dec. 31.
In a statement issued by the JDM team Tuesday evening, team owner Johnny Davis said the organization would not appeal the penalty.
“We understand the severity of violation, and we accept NASCAR’s decision,” he said. “We have investigated the incident on our end and made changes to ensure that a similar event does not occur again.
“We would like to thank NASCAR for it’s fair decision-making and the care they show for all teams in the XFINITY Series. …
“We have expressed our concerns about the incident to Jamie Dick and the Viva Motorsports organization and are certain our groups can move forward, compete aggressively and continue the great racing for which the series is known.”
In addition to the No. 4 entry of Chastain, JDM also fields XFINITY Series entries for drivers Landon Cassill and Harrison Rhodes.
The errant ballast from the JD Motorsports car pierced the windshield area on the No. 55 Chevrolet, denting Dick’s helmet. Dick was evaluated and checked for concussion symptoms before being released from the infield care center.
NASCAR race officials investigated the damage to both the car and helmet after Saturday’s crash. Dick finished 25th the following day in the 3M 250.
“NASCAR was there right away inspecting and seeing what happened,” Dick said Saturday at the .875-mile track. “The laminated windshield did its job, which is the good part, and that’s something they implemented a year ago or so. That held up or else it would’ve been a much worse day.”
XFINITY Series director Wayne Auton told reporters Saturday at Iowa that he expected punishment to be stern. NASCAR officials handed down a P3-grade penalty in March to the HScott Motorsports team of driver Justin Allgaier after a similar violation during a Sprint Cup Series event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
“Number one, safety is our biggest concern out of anything that we do in motorsports,” Auton said. “It’s a sport that there’s 10,000 revolving pieces 24/7 when vehicles are on the race track or they’re sitting here in the garage area.
“… Any time that we have found weight coming out of race cars on the race track, we’ve been pretty harsh about it. We have to be. That’s part of it. People are sitting up here in the grandstands and drivers sitting inside these race cars.”