Race Weekend Central

Ryan Blaney Loses Pit Selection at Bristol due to Watkins Glen Warnings

On Wednesday morning, NASCAR issued their weekly penalty report.  Given that last weekend’s races were at Watkins Glen, the list could have been extensive.  However, that was not the case as no graded penalties were issued due to infractions found at Watkins Glen.  Only two teams were given warnings.

The team hit hardest in Watkins Glen was the Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 for Ryan Blaney.  The No. 21 failed the laser inspection at least four times during the race weekend.  Two of those were prior to qualifying, which earned the team a warning.  On Sunday, the car failed the laser inspection twice more, earning the team a second warning for the weekend, which gives them four.  As a result of the double warnings, Blaney and the No. 21 team will select their pit last at Bristol.  Also, as per Section 12.5.3.1.d of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rule Book, Wood Brothers Racing’s warnings will now reset to zero.

In addition, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates‘ No. 42 team for Kyle Larson was given a warning for flunking pre-qualifying template inspection twice.  For the No. 42 team, this is the first warning.

Finally, NASCAR announced the suspension of Michael Casto, a crewmember on Kevin Harvick‘s No. 4 team in Sprint Cup for what NASCAR deemed a behavorial violation in the article at nascar.com.  The official report indicates that Casto violated the Substance Abuse Policy.  As is the norm, Casto is suspended indefinitely and can only be reinstated once he complete’s NASCAR’s Road to Recovery program.

 

About the author

Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.

Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.

Sign up for the Frontstretch Newsletter

A daily email update (Monday through Friday) providing racing news, commentary, features, and information from Frontstretch.com
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.

Share via