DARLINGTON, S.C. – NASCAR officials confirmed a half-dozen lug nut penalties on Monday afternoon stemming from Sunday’s The Real Heroes 400 at Darlington Raceway.
The most severe of those was assessed to the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team of driver Erik Jones, who will lose crew chief Chris Gayle for the next NASCAR Cup Series event.
Jones’ Toyota Camry had two lug nuts not safe and secure during post-race inspection following Sunday’s 400-mile event at The Track Too Tough To Tame.
As a result, Gayle will be forced to sit out Wednesday night’s Toyota 500 at Darlington. He was also assessed a $20,000 monetary fine in addition to his one-race suspension.
Joe Gibbs Racing quickly confirmed that engineer Seth Chavka will fill in as Jones’ crew chief for the mid-week primetime special in Gayle’s absence.
Five other teams – the winning No. 4 of Kevin Harvick, the No. 11 of Denny Hamlin, the No. 22 of Joey Logano, the No. 42 of Matt Kenseth and the No. 95 of Christopher Bell – were found with one lug nut not safe and secure during post-race inspection Sunday evening.
The respective crew chiefs from each of those teams – Rodney Childers, Chris Gabehart, Paul Wolfe, Chad Johnston and Jason Ratcliff – all received $10,000 monetary fines.
Wednesday night marks the sixth race of the NASCAR Cup Series season, the Toyota 500.
Race coverage will begin at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.