Following Martinsville, NASCAR took the No. 3 RCR Chevrolet and the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford back to the R&D Center for further inspection. There were no issues with SHR car, but the same cannot be said for RCR.
NASCAR found a violation relating to the 'Underwing Assembly Mounting & Underwing Stay Assembly Hardware' section of the rulebook. Austin Dillon finished 12th at Martinsville.
As a result, the team has been penalized 60 driver and owner points, as well as five playoff points. Crew chief Keith Rodden has been suspended for the next two championship events and fined $75,000.
The penalty drops Dillon from 21st to 28th in the regular season standings, and sets him to negative five playoff points.
RCR plans to appeal, releasing the following statement: "We are disappointed in the penalty that NASCAR issued to Richard Childress Racing following the recent NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway, and plan to go through the appeal process."
NASCAR also issued an expected penalty to the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports team after the Anthony Alfredo lost a wheel on track during Sunday's Martinsville race, causing a caution. Crew members Chris Jackson and David Smith have been suspended from the next two championship events.
Additionally, there were three monetary penalties for improperly installed or missing lug nuts in the Xfinity Series, with three separate teams being fined $5,000 each. They were the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, and the No. 39 RSS Racing Ford.
