NASCAR issued its Phoenix Raceway penalty report late yesterday with two top teams in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series each being fined for infractions found in post-race inspections. Brad Keselowski’s No. 2 car failed the post-race rear wheel steer laser inspection. His crew chief, Paul Wolfe, has been fined $65,000 and suspended from the next three Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points events. The team has been assessed with the loss of 35 driver and 35 team owner points. Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 car was found to have an unapproved track bar assembly during a random post-race inspection at the R&D centre. His crew chief, Rodney Childers, has been fined $25,000 and suspended from the next Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series points event. The team has been assessed with the loss of 10 driver and 10 team owner points. In both cases, the finishes will be considered encumbered which means they cannot count toward a point tie-breaker later in the season. Team Penske, owner of Keselowski’s car, issued a statement in response to the penalty: “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. The race cars returned to the race shop today and we are in the process of evaluating the area in question,” the statement said. “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.” Keselowski dropped from second to fourth in the standings and Harvick from seventh to eighth. The penalty report did not include any sanctions for Austin Dillon who intentionally crashed into Cole Custer under caution during the XFINITY Series race on Saturday, just one day after NASCAR officials warned drivers not to use their car weapons. Dillon was called to the NASCAR trailer after the incident to meet with officials but the discussion was private.
