NASCAR assessed a P3 penalty to the No. 42 Sprint Cup Series team (Kyle Larson, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates) on Wednesday for violating sections 12-1 and 20.17.3.1.2 of the NASCAR rulebook during events last weekend at Michigan International Speedway.
Larson finished third in the FireKeepers Casino 400 with interim crew chief Philip Surgen atop the pit box, the 23-year-old driver’s second-best finish of the season.
NASCAR fined Surgen $25,000 and docked the team 15 championship driver points and 15 championship owner points. Surgen was filling in for Chad Johnston, who was suspended after a lug-nut violation following the Axalta ‘We Paint Winners’ 400 on June 5 at Pocono Raceway.
The No. 42 was in violation of sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 20.17.3.1.2 (vehicle inspection measurements) of the rulebook. Larson’s No. 42 Chevrolet failed post-race inspection.
NASCAR also gave a written warning and took 15 minutes of practice time away from the Nos. 2 (Brad Keselowski), 16 (Greg Biffle), 23 (David Ragan) and 46 (Michael Annett) Sprint Cup teams on Wednesday for failing laser inspection three times before qualifying at Michigan. It was the second warning for the Nos. 2, 23 and 46 and first for the No. 16 team.
The No. 15 team (Clint Bowyer) received a written warning for failing laser inspection twice before the race at Michigan. It was that team’s first warning.
The Nos. 32 (Jeffrey Earnhardt), 44 (Brian Scott), 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) and 88 (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) teams received written warnings for failing laser inspection twice before qualifying at Michigan. It was the third warning for the No. 44 team, the second for the No. 32 and the first for the Nos. 78 and 88 teams.
And the Nos. 14 (Tony Stewart), 17 (Ricky Stenhouse Jr.), 24 (Chase Elliott), 34 (Chris Buescher), 41 (Kurt Busch), 47 (AJ Allmendinger), 55 (Cole Whitt) and 78 (Truex) teams received written warnings for failing template inspection twice before qualifying. It was the second warning for the No. 14, 17, 24 and 47 teams and the first for the Nos. 34, 41 and 55 teams. It was the fourth for the 78, which lost its pit stall selection at Michigan.