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Joey Logano's crew chief fined $10,000 for lug nut violation
Todd Gordon, the crew chief for Joey Logano, was fined $10,000 by NASCAR because the No. 22 car didn’t have all the lug nuts on it after Sunday’s race at Texas.
Logano’s car had 19 of 20 lug nuts fastened to the wheels when it was checked following the conclusion of the rain-shortened race. Logano led 178 laps on Sunday night and finished second to race-winner Carl Edwards.
Earlier this spring, NASCAR started penalizing teams who didn’t have all the lug nuts fastened to the wheels at the end of the race. Before the Chase began, the penalty for Gordon would have included a one-race suspension. But NASCAR changed the lug nut rule before the Chase. A crew chief is suspended only if a team has 17 or fewer lug nuts fastened to the car.
The lug nut rule was modified at the same time the sanctioning body increased the tolerances for a penalty for failing laser inspection.
While Gordon was simply fined, there were potential Chase-altering penalties in the Xfinity Series following Saturday’s race at Texas. Brendan Gaughan’s No. 62 team was docked 10 points for failing post-race height inspection at the rear of the car.
Gaughan is now 33 points behind the fourth and final spot for Xfinity final four at Homestead. The No. 88 Xfinity Series car — driven by Kevin Harvick at Texas — also failed rear height inspection and was penalized 10 points. The No. 88, which has been driven by multiple drivers in 2016, is in the owner’s Chase for the Xfinity Series.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
