NASCAR wasted no time reminding Cup Series teams of the serious consequences of looking for an unfair advantage with its new Next Gen car.
Brad Keselowski and his Ford-based Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing team were hammered at mid-week for rules violations after last weekend’s 500-miler at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Keselowski lost 100 points and 10 playoff points and the team itself also lost 100 owner points for illegal body modifications on Keselowski’s No. 6 Ford Mustang. By rule, unapproved modification to any vendor-provided parts and pieces for the Next Gen car is strictly and expressly forbidden.
The RFK entry was plagued with inspection issues at Atlanta. It was sent to the rear for the start after failing pre-race inspection because of the oft-cited “unapproved adjustments” violation. Keselowski finished 12th, but more serious violations were discovered once the No. 6 car was taken to the NASCAR R&D Center near Charlotte for an extensive post-race inspection.
Even beyond the financial and points penalties, the team has lost suspended crew chief Matt McCall for the upcoming races in Austin, Richmond, Martinsville, and Bristol. The punishment also includes a $100,000 fine for McCall, although teams generally cover such fines of crewmen for work-related rules violations.
Officials say Keselowski’s team violated sections 14.1 and 14.5 of the NASCAR Rule Book, which addresses unapproved modifications to vendor-provided equipment. But typical of such penalties, NASCAR did not identify which specific vendor-supplied part or parts had been modified. At least once source has said it was a body panel, although that has not been confirmed.
Early in the year, before the Daytona 500 opener, NASCAR officials emphasized how seriously they will take rules violations surrounding the Next Gen car. Although several teams have been sent to the rear for minor violations found during race-weekend inspections, the RFK Team is the first to be hit with attention-getting penalties.
“To make sure all of those (inspection) things stay above board, there’s going to have to be a culture shift from the way the teams and NASCAR, for that matter, have done business,” NASCAR senior vice president of competition Scott Miller said. “So, this deterrence model has more meat in it, more meaningful penalties. But I think we all thought it was time for this with the introduction of the new car.”
Roush-Fenway-Keselowski Racing has a right to appeal the penalties, but NASCAR’s history clearly shows how futile that time-consuming process generally is.