Daytona Beach, FL – NASCAR handed down stiff penalties to three Sprint Cup Series teams for rules violations that were discovered during last Friday's opening day inspection at Talladega Superspeedway.
According to a news release from NASCAR on Tuesday, the Michael Waltrip Racing No.00 and No.56 teams and the JTG Daugherty Racing No.47 team were penalized for "unapproved modification to an approved windshield."
NASCAR confiscated the windshields from the cars of David Reutimann (No.00), Martin Truex Jr. (No.56) and Bobby Labonte (No.47). All three teams replaced the windshields on the cars before Friday's first practice session began.
Crew chiefs Rodney Childers (Reutimann), Frank Kerr (Labonte) and Chad Johnston (Truex) have each been fined $50,000 and suspended for the last four Sprint Cup races this season -- Martinsville, Texas, Phoenix and Homestead. Car chiefs Steve Channing (Reutimann), Raymond Fox (Labonte) and Anthony Lunders (Truex) also received the same suspension period.
Reutimann, Labonte and Truex were each penalized 25 driver points. Car Owners Rob Kauffman (No.00), Tad Geschickter (No.47), and Michael Waltrip (No.56) received a loss of 25 points as well.
Neither MWR nor JTG Daugherty plan to appeal.
"Michael Waltrip Racing is ultra-sensitive and very serious about working within the guidelines of NASCAR policy," the team said in statement. "We do not condone this type of activity and as such we will take appropriate internal corrective action immediately. We thank NASCAR for providing a fair and equitable platform for all of its competitors and respect its decisions; therefore, we will not appeal."
MWR announced that Bobby Kennedy, the team's executive vice president of race operations, will take over crew chief duties for the No.00. Mechanic Chris Hall will serve as the car chief.
For the No.56 team, Pat Tryson will step into the crew chief role this weekend at Martinsville. Allen Mincey, who is also a mechanic for MWR, will serve as car chief.
JTG Daugherty, which is affiliated with MWR, also revealed its personnel changes. Team chief race engineer Brian Burns has been named the interim crew chief for the No.47. Bob Bechstein will move into the car chief role.
"We are very disappointed in this entire situation, and we will not appeal NASCAR's ruling," JTG Daugherty Racing co-owner Brad Daugherty said in a statement. "We look forward to racing at Martinsville Speedway this weekend and getting ready for next season."
