Ryan Blaney has been penalized 20 points following the second race of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series round of 8, the AAA Texas 500, at Texas Motor Speedway.
Overshadowed by the 40-point penalty issued to Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick following his victory in the second race of the 2018 NASCAR Cup Series round of 8, the AAA Texas 500, at Texas Motor Speedway and the fact that his victory no longer clinches him a berth in the Championship 4 is the penalty issued to Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney.
Blaney drove his #12 Ford to a second place finish behind Harvick in the 337-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) Texas Motor Speedway oval in Fort Worth, Texas.
However, it was announced on Wednesday that Blaney and his #12 Ford team were issued an L1-level penalty for an infraction pertaining to the door front crush panels of his #12 Ford.
Here is what NASCAR.com had to say about why Blaney was issued this penalty.
"“The No. 12 Ford that Ryan Blaney drove to a runner-up finish in last Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 was found with unapproved door front crush panels, a violation of Section 20.4.17.6.b in the NASCAR Rule Book. That rule states that “all filler panels must remain permanently attached for the entire event.'”"
As a result of this penalty, Blaney, who is no longer in championship contention after he was eliminated following the round of 12, was docked 20 driver points while his #12 Ford team were docked 20 owner points.
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Blaney’s crew chief, Jeremy Bullins, and car chief, Kirk Almquist, were both suspended from the next two races, which are the final two races of the season at ISM Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. Bullins was also fined $50,000.
Blaney ended this race in ninth place in the championship standings with 2,283 points, at which point he was the highest non-round of 8 driver in the standings.
Following his 20-point penalty, Blaney is still the highest non-round of 8 driver in the standings, but he has just 2,263 points and leads teammate Brad Keselowski, who has 2,259 points and was also eliminated after the round of 12, in 10th by just four points as opposed to 24.
Ryan Blaney and the rest of the NASCAR Cup Series field are set to get back in action this Sunday, November 11 with the Can-Am 500 at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. Tune in to the live broadcast of this race, which is the final race of the round of 8, beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.