NASCAR Cup Series: More L1 penalties shake up standings
By Asher Fair
The pre-race penalties issued to the two JTG Daugherty Racing drivers, Ryan Preece and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., further shook up the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings following Sunday’s race at Auto Club Speedway.
Just one week after three L1 level penalties were issued during the NASCAR Cup Series race weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin as well as Leavine Family Racing’s Christopher Bell, two more were issued at Auto Club Speedway.
Just as these three penalties shook up the championship standings, these most recent two did as well, as expected with only three of the 36 races on the schedule having been contested.
Both of the JTG Daugherty Racing teams were issued these penalties prior to Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at the four-turn, 2.0-mile (3.219-kilometer) oval in Fontana, California.
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The #37 Chevrolet of Ryan Preece, which was already set to start the race from the rear following an engine change, and the #47 Chevrolet of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were found by NASCAR officials not to be in compliance with the NASCAR Cup Series Rule Book in pre-qualifying inspection.
According to NASCAR, both teams violated Section 20.20 of the Rule Book, which states that “Assembled Vehicle Overall Rules; Note: Parts, systems, devices, omissions or component failures cannot affect what what should otherwise be the normal airflow over the body of the vehicle.”
Both Stenhouse and Preece ended up starting Sunday afternoon’s 200-lap race from the rear of the field after initially qualifying in 10th and 20th place, respectively. Stenhouse finished in 20th to score 17 points while Preece finished in 30th to score seven.
But both drivers were also docked 10 points in the championship standings, as were their teams. Stenhouse would have ended the weekend in 11th place in the standings with 83 points, 14 points above the playoff cut line. Instead, he sits in 15th with 73, just four points above it.
Roush Fenway Racing’s Chris Buescher and Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski moved up from a 12th place tie to an 11th place tie with 82 points. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. and Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon moved up from 14th and 15th to 13th and 14th, respectively, with 79 and 76 points.
As for Preece, he has not finished higher than 29th place this season and would have ended the weekend in a 31st place tie with Gaunt Brothers Racing’s Daniel Suarez with 16 points. Instead, he sits in 35th with just six points, last among the full-time drivers. StarCom Racing’s Quin Houff is the next lowest full-time driver. He sits two points above Preece with eight in 34th.
In addition to Houff, Leavine Family Racing rookie Christopher Bell and Spire Motorsports’ Reed Sorenson also moved up. Bell moved up from 33rd to 32nd place with 13 points while Sorenson moved up from 34th to 33rd with 10.
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The fourth race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, the FanShield 500, is scheduled to take place at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona this Sunday, March 8. It is set to be broadcast live on Fox beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET.