NASCAR team owner fined, suspended after Daytona
By Asher Fair
Chip Ganassi Racing team owner Chip Ganassi will not be permitted to attend Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
After violating NASCAR‘s COVID-19 event protocols this past weekend at Daytona International Speedway, Chip Ganassi Racing team owner Chip Ganassi will not be permitted to attend this weekend’s Cup Series event at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The #1 team of Kurt Busch and the #42 team of Ross Chastain will still be able to compete in the 267-lap Dixie Vodka 400 around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval in Homestead, Florida — as they should be, considering the fact that they did nothing wrong and did not violate any rules. Ganassi simply won’t be allowed to be there.
The two-car team owner, who also fields teams in many other forms of motorsport, reportedly violated Section 12.8.1.b of the NASCAR Rule Book, which pertains to compliance with COVID-19 event procedures. Officially, Ganassi was suspended “for bringing into the competition area a non-essential individual that was restricted from the footprint”.
His penalties also include a $30,000. He will be allowed to appeal the penalty.
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Busch led the team with a fourth place finish in this past Sunday’s race at the Daytona International Speedway road course despite his involvement in multiple incidents throughout the event. Chastain crashed out and was scored in 39th place in just his second Cup Series start for the team.
Busch sits in eighth place in the point standings heading into the third race of the 36-race season while Chastain sits in a 20th place tie.
Last season, Busch finished in 10th place in the standings and was eliminated in the round of 8 of the playoffs. He scored a victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the round of 12. Chastain, meanwhile, competed full-time in the Xfinity Series for Kaulig Racing and was eliminated in the round of 8. He finished in seventh in the standings.
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The Dixie Vodka 400 is set to be broadcast live on Fox beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, February 28.