DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Daniel Hemric’s road to the Championship 4 in the NASCAR XFINITY Series got substantially tougher this week, as he will be without his crew chief through the end of the Round of 8, thanks to post-race penalties announced by NASCAR on Tuesday.
In an expected stiff penalty announcement, NASCAR slapped Hemric’s crew chief Danny Stockman, car chief Clint Almquist and engineer Luke Mason each with four-race suspensions through Nov. 14 for loss of added ballast.
The infraction occurred during practice on Friday at Dover Int’l Speedway. Hemric currently ranks fifth in the playoff standings with only this weekend’s Drive for the Cure 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway remaining in the first round of the postseason.
Five lug nut violations were also announced across the three NASCAR national series, each carrying various monetary fines.
In the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Erik Jones’ No. 77 Furniture Row Racing Toyota and Clint Bowyer’s No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford were both found with one missing lug nut during post-race inspection at Dover.
As a result, crew chiefs Chris Gayle (Jones) and Mike Bugarewicz (Bowyer) were fined $10,000.
In the NASCAR XFINITY Series, Brennan Poole’s No. 48 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet and Jones’ No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota were pinged for one loose lug nut apiece, costing crew chiefs Chad Norris (Poole) and Chris Gabehart (Jones) $5,000 in fine money.
And in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Matt Crafton’s No. 88 ThorSport Racing Toyota was found with one loose lug nut in post-race inspection Saturday night. That carried with it a $2,500 monetary fine for crew chief Carl Joiner Jr.
NASCAR racing resumes this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, with both the NASCAR XFINITY Series and Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series contesting playoff races at the 1.5-mile quad-oval that most teams based around the ‘Queen City’ call home.
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.
Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 23-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: editor@racechaseronline.com
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
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