NASCAR Penalizes Tony Gibson, others after Pocono

Tony Gibson

NASCAR has announced penalties and warnings following the Pennsylvania 400 Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway on August 1st.

#41-Kurt Busch team has been assessed a P2-level penalty after NASCAR officials found the right rear quarter panel was modified after race inspection last weekend at Pocono Raceway. Tony Gibson, crew chief for the Stewart-Haas Racing #41 team, was fined $10,000 and will continue to be on NASCAR Probation through Dec. 31. The infraction was found in sections 12.1; 20.4, 20.4.16 and 20.4.2 of the NASCAR Rule Book, all pertaining to body specifications and including, "All braces used to support fenders and quarter panels must be straight." Busch was sent to the rear of the field to start the race for the unapproved body modification.

The gas man for the #34 team of race winner Chris Buescher, Josh Patch, was fined $1,000 and the team was assessed a P1 penalty for safety violations at Pocono. NASCAR pit-road officiating found Patch was "on the service side of the pit wall with face shield up." Sections 12.1 and 12.5.3.2.1 of the NASCAR Rule Book apply.

The #7-Regan Smith and #23-David Ragan cars failed pre-race laser inspection twice on Sunday. The #13-Casey Mears and #95-Michael McDowell failed pre-qualifying laser inspection twice on Saturday. And the #7, #23, and #42-Kyle Larson cars failed pre-qualifying template inspection twice. All received written warnings.

Three teams received written warnings and a loss of 15 minutes of practice time after having inspection trouble. #18-Kyle Busch, #20-Matt Kenseth and #78-Martin Truex Jr. all failed pre-qualifying template inspection three times on Saturday. NASCAR PR