Nascar said Wednesday that one of the eight connecting rods in the engine of the No. 20 Toyota did not meet the minimum weight requirement. Although it was potentially a quality control issue by the engine provider Toyota Racing Development — and one that gave no advantage to Kenseth in Sunday’s race — Nascar levied a severe penalty against a Sprint Cup team for the second week in a row.
Kenseth was stripped of 50 driver points in the standings — he earned only 48 points for the victory — and Nascar also erased the 3 bonus points he earned for the win that would have been applied in seeding for the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. In addition, the victory will not be credited toward his eligibility for a wild-card berth in the Chase.
So, although Kenseth has two wins on the year, the Kansas win does not count in any form toward his Chase eligibility. Kenseth also lost his pole award, which could hurt his eligibility for next year’s Sprint Unlimited exhibition race.
Nascar suspended the crew chief Jason Ratcliff for six races, fined him $200,000 and placed him on probation until the end of the year.(New York Times)
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