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RELATED: Nos. 2, 4 teams penalized after violations at Phoenix
Officials with Team Penske have not determined if the organization will appeal penalties handed down to the No. 2 team and driver Brad Keselowski on Wednesday, according to a statement from the team. Stewart-Haas Racing, meanwhile, announced it would appeal the penalty for the No. 4 team of Kevin Harvick.
Team Penske also announced that Brian Wilson will serve as interim crew chief this weekend, replacing Paul Wolfe, when the series visits Auto Club Speedway for Sunday’s running of the Auto Club 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“We have acknowledged the penalties levied against the No. 2 team following last weekend’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway,” Team Penske officials said in the statement. “The race cars returned to the race shop today (Wednesday) and we are in the process of evaluating the area in question. In the meantime, we have decided Brian Wilson will serve as Brad Keselowski’s crew chief at Auto Club Speedway while we evaluate our approach relative to today’s penalties.”
NASCAR fined Wolfe $65,000 and suspended him for the next three Monster Energy Cup Series races (Auto Club, Martinsville and Texas), while Keselowski and the No. 2 team were docked 35 driver and owner points respectively.
According to the NASCAR penalty report issued Wednesday, the No. 2 team failed the post-race rear wheel steer on the LIS (Laser Inspection Station) following last Sunday’s Camping World 500 at Phoenix.
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The points deduction dropped Keselowski from second to fourth in the standings after four of this year’s 36 points races. The 2012 series champion already has one victory this season, however, putting him in line for one of the 16 spots for this year’s playoff field.
Wilson is the former lead engineer for Keselowski’s No. 2 team. He served as crew chief of the No. 22 Team Penske XFINITY Series entry last season for 24 races, and was atop the pit box helping guide the No. 22 team to the win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with driver Joey Logano earlier this season.
– According to SHR officials, the organization “has officially requested an appeal hearing regarding the penalties … and have also requested a deferral of the penalties until the appeal process is complete.”
The request for appeal means that crew chief Rodney Childers will be allowed to participate in this weekend’s race activities at Auto Club.
Childers was suspended for one race and fined $25,000 while driver Kevin Harvick and the team were assessed with the loss of 10 driver and team owner points, respectively, due to the use of an unapproved track bar slider in Sunday’s race at Phoenix.