By Noah Nelson
When NASCAR announced that the Next-Gen car had single source, vendor-supplied parts, they
sent a clear message to the teams: Don’t mess with the parts, or you will be penalized
accordingly.
This season especially, that has been true, and steep penalties are becoming an almost-weekly
occurrence.
Phoenix in March saw penalties for Hendrick Motorsports and Kaulig Racing for illegal hood
louvers. Both teams controversially had their points restored, but faced steep fines regardless.
Richmond in April saw the Hendrick teams in trouble again, this time for illegal greenhouse
modifications, which they did not appeal.
Then last week, NASCAR issued one of its largest ever fines (and points penalties) to Stewart-
Haas Racing’s #14 team for counterfeiting a Next-Gen part.
This week it was Legacy Motor Club’s turn, with NASCAR issuing an L1-Level penalty to the
team on Wednesday morning, with Erik Jones’ #43 team losing 60 driver and owner points, as
well as the loss of 5 playoff points and crew chief Dave Elenz for the next two races. Elenz is
also being fined $75,000 for the violation.
This is not the first time that this team has been penalized for Next-Gen technical infractions.
Last summer, the team was penalized for violating the rules regarding rocker box assemblies,
with both the #42 and #43 teams being issued L1-Level penalties at that time as well.
Today’s penalty is for a violation that has been described as being similar to the aforementioned
greenhouse modification that had Hendrick in trouble back in April, and was found when
NASCAR took Jones’ car to their R&D center following Sunday’s race at Worldwide
Technology Raceway.
When announcing the penalty, NASCAR cited the following violations of the rule book:
Section 14.1.C: Vehicles must comply with Section 14 Vehicle and Driver Safety Specifications
of the NASCAR Rule Book at all times during an Event. Failure to comply will be subject to
Penalty pursuant to Section 10 Violations and Disciplinary Action.
Section 14.1.D: Except in cases explicitly permitted in the NASCAR Rules, installation of
additional components, repairs, deletions, and/or modifications to Next Gen Single Source
Vendor-supplied parts and/or assemblies will not be permitted.
Section 14.1.2.B: All parts and assemblies must comply with the NASCAR Engineering Change
Log.
In a statement, Legacy Motor Club vice president of operations Andy Cohen said the following:
“We have been diligently working with NASCAR regarding the penalty and are working
internally to determine the course of action in response. We will announce that decision within
the timeframe determined by the NASCAR Rule Book.”
Cohen will be the interim crew chief for the team while Dave Elenz serves his suspension.
Jones, who has struggled mightily so far this year, plummets to a distant 30th in points, and will
almost undoubtedly need to win to make this year’s NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
