Miller: Loose wheels at Dover ‘obviously human error’

RELATED: Busch experiences major issue on pit road Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Chase Briscoe both lost a wheel on their respective vehicles while circling the track at Dover International Speedway this weekend. NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Scott Miller told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that officials would dive into those instances later Monday, but that the sanctioning body would consider judging intent when determining any penalties. The NASCAR Rule Book suggests a four-race suspension to an organization's crew chief, tire carrier and tire changer in the event of losing a wheel due to improper installation -- but also notes safety violations would be handled on a case-by-case basis. The penalty is designed to discourage teams from changing a tire and intentionally leaving lug nuts loose to save time, and gain track position. "It's possible that we will (look at intent)," Miller said. "We really haven't started those discussions yet. Certainly we will review everything that we have. From what we've seen so far, it wasn't trying to go back on the race track with two lug nuts, it was obviously human error in both cases. There's a lot of discussions internally that have to happen on how we're going to rule on that. That process will start later this afternoon." As Miller noted, both instances over the weekend appeared to be human error -- for Busch, his pit crew dropped the jack before the lug nuts on the left-rear tire were secured; for Briscoe, the team's airgun appeared to inadvertently be set in reverse. Busch was the polesitter for Sunday's Monster Energy Series race and led the first 18 laps before his left rear wheel popped off following the first set of pit stops. He drove back through the field after repairs, but it ultimately cost him a shot at his first win of the season -- he finished 16th. The story was similar in the Camping World Truck Series event in which Briscoe -- also the polesitter -- couldn't recover and finished 12th, one lap down. RELATED: Briscoe loses tire after leaving pit road Any penalties likely would be announced later this week. "It's fairly obvious when things keep occurring that are either competition related or safety related, and you see a recurrence and feel you need to ramp up the consequences of doing said things," Miller said. "With the wheels, and hitting two or three lug nuts on the last pit stop and all that, that's kind of where those rules came from." MORE: Miller on overtime rule playing out at Dover