Three Red Bull Racing employees punished

Officials with Red Bull Racing have fired one employee and disciplined at least two others, following penalties for an infraction after the Oct. 19 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway. The car's sheet metal did not meet the minimum thickness requirements set by NASCAR.

Team General Manager Jay Frye said that one supervisor, whom he declined to name, was released following an in-house investigation after the team’s No. 83 Toyota failed a post race inspection conducted Oct. 21 at NASCAR’s Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C.

NASCAR officials penalized driver Brian Vickers with the loss of 150 driver points and car owner Dietrich Mateschitz 150 owners points; crew chief Kevin Hamlin was fined $100,000 and placed on indefinite suspension, and car chief Craig Smokstad was also placed on indefinite suspension.

Frye said he was in his office at work when he got the call from NASCAR informing him of the infraction.

“One of the first things I did was go to those involved and ask if it was a mistake or if they knew what they were doing," Frye said. “Based on that information, we took the appropriate actions.

“I asked if it could have been a mistake and was told, yes, it could have been. I asked if it was and was told that it wasn’t."