LONG BEACH, Calif. – Andretti Autosport rookie Devlin DeFrancesco was involved in three crashes in the March 20 XPEL 375 at Texas Motor Speedway. Because of that, IndyCar officials have docked the driver from Toronto who now lives in Miami six grid positions for Sunday’s 47th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
The penalty was released at 2 p.m. ET Friday.
DeFrancesco was in violation of “Avoidable Contact.”
According to the penalty report, “The primary responsibility for avoiding contact with a competitor resides with the overtaking competitor and the secondary responsibility resides with the competitor(s) being overtaken. A competitor who fails to demonstrate their responsibility and initiates a maneuver that results in contact with another competitor may be penalized.
“According to the rulebook, a penalty can be applied at the next IndyCar race if the penalty cannot be served at the event where the infraction took place. The series’ next 2022 event is the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, April 10 on the Streets of Long Beach.”
DeFrancesco drives the No. 29 Honda at Andretti Steinbrenner Racing and will start six positions lower than the position he qualifies on Sunday. If he qualifies 21st or lower, he will start last.