In the words of Darrell Waltrip, “you picked a fine time to leave me loose wheel”.

Two Cup Series teams suffered lost wheels in Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway.  As a result, NASCAR has assessed penalties in accordance of the NASCAR rule book.

Last season when the new Next Gen car was introduced, NASCAR rewrote the rule book to accommodate the new single hub wheels in the Cup Series.

The number three Richard Childress Racing car driven by Austin Dillon lost the entire wheel hub and assembly in a crash that put him out of the race early.  As a result. Jackman Josh Sobecki and rear tire changer Michael Johnson have been suspended for two races.

The number 51 Rick Ware Racing car driven by Todd Gilliland also crashed his car after losing a wheel.  Jackman Matthew Schlytter and rear tire changer Coleman Dollarhide have also been suspended for two races.


There was also a tire issue in the Xfinity Series race on Saturday which brought out one of the near record setting 12 caution flags when the number 27 Jordan Anderson Racing car driven by Jeb Burton also lost a wheel leaving jackman Justin Clapper and rear tire changer Dakota Bonds suspended for the next two weeks.

Also in the Xfinity Series, the number 18 Joe Gibbs Racing car driven by Sammy Smith was charged with having a single lug nut improperly secured in post race inspection.  Crew chief Jeff Meendering has been fined $5,000 for the infraction.