NASCAR Hits Stewart-Haas With Major Sanctions; SHR Blames 'Quality Control Lapse'

It’s already been a busy week for NASCAR executive Elton Sawyer.

On Tuesday, the NASCAR senior vice-president of competition explained why the sanctioning body suspended Chase Elliott from this weekend’s Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis. The ruling came after Sawyer and his staff determined that Elliott intentionally wrecked Denny Hamlin near the mid-point of Monday night’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Hendrick Motorsports responded with a statement saying it would not appeal the suspension. It has announced that journeyman driver Cory LaJoie will be in the No. 9 Chevrolet this weekend.

On Wednesday, Sawyer was back, this time announcing that NASCAR has issued a Level-3 penalty against Stewart-Haas Racing after officials found several counterfeit parts on the No. 14 Ford of Chase Briscoe during post-Charlotte inspection.

The team has been docked 120 driver points and 120 owner points, with a loss of an additional 25 playoff points should Briscoe and the team qualify for the postseason. Crew chief John Klausmeier has been fined $250,000 and suspended for the next six races: St. Louis, Sonoma, Nashville, Chicago, Atlanta, and New Hampshire.

According to Wednesday’s penalty log, the team violated multiple sections of the Rule Book that prohibit counterfeiting a Next Gen single source vendor-supplied part. The penalty also addressed rules regarding the underwing engine panel assembly.

“In the post-race inspection at the R&D Center, we found the No. 14 car had an engine panel duct not in compliance with the rule book,” Sawyer said on Wednesday. “It’s a counterfeit part, and that’s a Level-3 penalty. We need to make sure we’re keeping the teams and the car in compliance. The deterrence model has to fit that, and that’s our responsibility as custodians of the sport and of the garage.”

Sawyer repeated what NASCAR has been saying since the Next Gen car was unveiled last year. “Don’t mess with a single-source part,” he said. “Working in areas we used to work in with the Gen-6 car is just not going to be acceptable with this car. It’s not going to be the culture we’re going to allow.”

A Level-3 penalty is reserved for the most intense of instances, including but not limited to counterfeiting or modifying Next Gen single-source vendor parts and/or assemblies; engine infractions; engine-performance enhancements; altering/modifying tires or fuel; and violating the vehicle testing policy. The penalties for the No. 14 team were the minimum for a Level-3 violation as stipulated in the Rule Book.

The penalties will radically change the postseason playoff picture. Until Wednesday, Briscoe was the first winless driver out of the playoff field, four points behind Alex Bowman. The loss drops Briscoe from 292 points to 172, facing a path that almost surely must include a win over the next 12 regular-season races.

Stewart-Haas Racing released the following statement after Wednesday’s penalty announcement: “We had a quality control lapse and a part that never should’ve been on a car going to the race track ended up on the No. 14 car at Charlotte. We accept NASCAR’s decision and will not appeal.”