Julius Caesar was told “Beware the Ides of March”; but when it comes to auto racing, teams need to “Beware the Eyes of NASCAR”!

On March 15, NASCAR handed down the biggest penalty in the sport’s history to one team when Rick Hendrick received penalties on all four of his cars.

On Friday afternoon as the teams were preparing to take to the track at Phoenix Raceway, NASCAR officials “saw something they didn’t like” from the hood louvers used in all four of the Hendrick Motorsports cars and the number 31 Kaulig Racing car.  The teams were allowed to practice with the offending parts and then turn them over to NASCAR who took them to their R&D center in North Carolina for further investigation.

The hood louvers in question are used to help cool the engine; they are openings or vents in the hood that transfer out of the engine and “decouple” the performance of the engine from the aerodynamic performance of the car.

As a result, the HMS cars and the number 31 were all charged with a L2 level penalty for violation of the no modifications to single vendor parts rule.

Each car has been fined $100,000, docked 100 driver and 100 owner points, and the crew chiefs – Cliff Daniels, Alan Gustafson, Rudy Fugle, Blake Harris, and Trent Owens –  have all been suspended for four races.  In the case of the number nine car, no driver points penalty was assessed since the regular driver of the number nine car is currently sidelined with a broken leg and his substitute driver Josh Berry does not earn any points in the Cup Series since he is an Xfinity Series regular driver.  In the case of Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, and William Byron; the drivers will also be docked 10 playoff points – which wipes out the points William Byron has earned for winning the past two races.  With the new NASCAR rules regarding drivers making the playoffs being in the top 30 in points, Byron is just barely inside the limit at 29th.

With all four of his Cup Series crew chiefs out this weekend at Atlanta and a triple header weekend of racing, Rick Hendrick is going to have to do some scrambling to cover off of his crew positions.

Citing Section 14.5.4.2.A in the NASCAR rule book, NASCAR did not give any specific examples but stated that the crews “modified” the part – a single source vendor part – which is against the rules.

When NASCAR introduced the Next Gen car last year, they also amended the rule book and stiffened several penalties significantly in hopes of deterring crews from modifying car parts that are mandated and issued by NASCAR.

Hendrick Motorsports has announced that they will be appealing the ruling but have not chosen to defer the suspensions of the crew chiefs.

With the potential loss of 100 points, Alex Bowman drops from leading the point standings to 23rd; Kevin Harvick is the new point leader.  Bowman is one of just two drivers who has finished all four of the races so far in the top 10.  Kyle Larson falls to 32nd place in the standings.


attempting to manipulate the outcome of the race or championship; wrecking or spinning another vehicle, whether or not that vehicle is removed from competition as a result; and actions detrimental to stock car racing or NASCAR.”

Hamlin admitted to purposely running fellow driver  Ross Chastain into the wall.  Hamlin noted that after taking only two tires, he was going to get passed by several other drivers and decided that if he was going to finish near the back of the field, so was Chastain and drove the number one car of Chastain into the wall.

NASCAR Competition Director Elton Sawyer noted that had Hamlin not opened his mouth, NASCAR would have viewed it simply as “just racing”.


During the race at Phoenix on Sunday, Aric Almirola spun out and hit the wall.  In the process the wheel came off of the car and began rolling around the track.  NASCAR issued the Stewart-Haas Racing number 10 team a safety violation under Sections 8.8.10.4 A & C – loss or separation of an improperly installed wheel or tire.  Front tire changer Ryan Mulder and jackman Sean Cotton have been suspended to the next two races.  The rule has been modified from four races to two this year.


The updated standings are:
Kevin Harvick
Ross Chastain
Christopher Bell
Ryan Blaney
Kyle Busch
Martin Truex Jr.
Daniel Suarez
Joey Logano
Brad Keselowski
Chris Buescher
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Denny Hamlin
Bubba Wallace
Austin Cindric
Corey LaJoie
Michael McDowell
Tyler Reddick
AJ Allmendinger
Austin Dillon
Ty Gibbs
Chase Briscoe
Aric Almirola
Alex Bowman
Ryan Preece
Erik Jones
Chase Elliott
Harrison Burton
Todd Gilliland
William Byron
Noah Gragson
Cody Ware
Kyle Larson
Travis Pastrana
BJ McLeod
Ty Dillon
Jimmie Johnson

Justin Haley in the number 31 Kaulig Racing car has dropped to negative points after the 100 point penalty.