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Hamlin's Darlington wins encumbered; Ives suspended

Wednesday, 06 September 2017


By Kelly Crandall / Image by Nigel Kinrade/LAT



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Denny Hamlin has nothing more than two trophies from his Darlington Raceway sweep after NASCAR ruled both of his wins encumbered Wednesday afternoon.


In the weekend's post-race penalty report, Joe Gibbs Racing was issued an L1-level penalty in both the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and the Xfinity Series. The winning No. 11 Toyota in the Cup Series was found with a rear suspension infraction under section 20 of the rulebook reading "the Truck trailing arm spacer / pinion angle shim mating surfaces must be planar and must be in complete contact with corresponding mating surfaces at all points and at all times."


The win has been encumbered, meaning it does not count toward the playoffs. In this case since Hamlin is locked into the postseason through a win earlier this season, the Darlington victory does not count for points.


Additionally, crew chief Mike Wheeler has been fined $50,000 and suspended from the next two races – Richmond and the playoff opener at Chicagoland Speedway. JGR has also been docked 25 driver and owner points.


As for the organization's Xfinity Series win, the L1-level penalty was also for a rear suspension infraction, resulting in an encumbered win for the No. 18 team which competes for the owners' championship. Crew chief Eric Philips has been fined $25,000 and suspended from the next two races. The team was also docked 25 owner points.


Other penalties from the weekend also include a rear suspension infraction on the No. 22 Team Penske team in the Xfinity Series. The team's second-place finish is encumbered and crew chief Greg Erwin has been fined $25,000 and suspended from the next two races. The team was docked 25 owner points.


Tighten your nuts!
Also, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s crew chief, Greg Ives, has been suspended for one race (Richmond). Ives was also fined $20,000 as the No. 88 Chevrolet had two unsecured lug nuts following the Southern 500.


Hendrick Motorsports will not appeal the penalty. Car chief Travis Mack has been announced as the interim crew chief this weekend.
"We have a tremendous amount of confidence in Travis and everyone on the team," said Jeff Andrews, vice president of competition at Hendrick Motorsports, in a statement. "Our people have done a great job all year with the lug nut rule. We won't dwell on it (the penalty) and will look forward to having Greg back on the box next week at Chicagoland."