DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 20: Harrison Burton, driver of the #21 Motorcraft/DEX Imaging Ford, flips after an on-track incident with Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Express Toyota, Ross Chastain, driver of the #1 Advent Health Chevrolet, Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's Toyota, and William Byron, driver of the #24 Axalta Chevrolet, during the NASCAR Cup Series 64th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 20, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)NASCAR has ruled that there will be no penalties for Team Penske or Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing after their wheels were confiscated for modifications prior to this year’s Daytona 500.
According to insider Jeff Gluck of The Athletic, NASCAR met with Next Gen suppliers and teams to discuss the wheels and “made small adjustments to increase the upper tolerance on pin and pilot bores for Fontana.”
NO PENALTIES for RFK/Penske modifiying their wheels.
NASCAR says it met with Next Gen suppliers and teams to discuss the wheels, then "made small adjustments to increase the upper tolerance on pin and pilot bores for Fontana."
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) February 23, 2022
On Friday, NASCAR competition officials confiscated the wheels used by Penske and RFK and sent them to the NASCAR Research & Development Center for further inspection. This decision was made due to the widening of pinholes on the NextGen stock car that debuted in 2022 Cup Series.
The widening of pinholes makes it easier to change the wheels during pit stops, limiting mistakes and time wasted.
On January 24, NASCAR announced a new set of penalties to discourage teams from modifying the NextGen cars — a move made in an attempt to level the playing field. The announced penalties include fines, suspensions, point deductions and nullification of playoff statuses.
This decision by NASCAR to refrain from any penalties sets a precedent for future car modification infractions.
