Jun
Following the Next Gen car’s introduction the previous year, numerous Cup teams have faced severe fines for attempting to break the rules with it, but NASCAR had never before dealt with a counterfeit part.
Following the finding of a false engine panel duct and underwing on the No. 14 Ford, NASCAR on Wednesday imposed one of its harshest penalties to Stewart-Haas Racing and racer Chase Briscoe.
The squad was penalized of 120 racers and owner points and 25 playoff points. John Klausmeier, the captain of the team, received a $250,000 fine in addition to a six-week suspension.
The part was detected throughout a thorough teardown inspection at NASCAR’s R&D Center in Concord, N.C., after Monday’s rain-delayed Coca-Cola 600. SHR has indicated that they won’t appeal the penalties.
“This is not something that we have seen in the past,” said Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition. “It’s a single-source part that you cannot fabricate, you cannot mess with, you cannot counterfeit.
“We’ve been very clear with that.”
According to Sawyer, NASCAR has been discouraging teams from attempting to produce or design their own parts for their cars by enforcing severe penalties.
“The culture that was in our garage and our race teams shops on the Gen 6 car was more of a manufacturing facility. The Next Gen car – that’s not the business model,” he said.
“The race teams – and they’re doing a better job, but we still have a lot of work to do – they have to change that culture within the walls of the race shop.”
Sawyer stressed NASCAR prefers that the conversation around the sport be centered on the racing than teams trying to avoid the regulations.
“We would much rather be talking about the phenomenal racing than about penalties,” he said. “But for us to keep this car in the box it needs to be in, we as a sanctioning body need to stay on top of it.
“We’re the custodians of the garage. We’re the custodians of this car. What we have to continue to do – and we will – is to continue to show the garage that we will not get lazy.
“We will continue to bring cars back to the R&D Center. We will continue to look at them and we’ll continue to write penalties if they continue to do the things they are doing.”
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Nascar, NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity, Elton Sawyer, Stewart-Haas Racing, SHR
