AVONDALE, Ariz. – Jeff Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman, says that having parts from all four cars on Friday “weighed on our mind coming into (Sunday) and certainly will continue.”
Gordon made the comments after the Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron records his second consecutive victory And all four Hendrick cars finished in the Top 10 at Phoenix.
More: what the drivers said in phoenix
NASCAR took the hood louvers (air vents) from Byrne’s cars, Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman And josh berry NASCAR also took a hood louver off a Kaulig Racing car after Friday practice. justin haley before Saturday’s qualifying.
NASCAR said Friday that it took the Hendrick hooded lows for further evaluation this week at its R&D center in Concord, North Carolina. NASCAR said if any fines are imposed on the team it could come this week.
One concern for Hendrick Motorsports is that in this era of single-sourced parts, NASCAR has increased penalties for modifications to those parts without prior approval.
Modification to Next Gen single-source vendor parts is an L2 penalty. Such punishment may include some or all of the following:
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Loss of 75 points for the driver and/or team owner
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Loss of 10 playoff points for driver and/or team owner
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A four-race race suspension for special crew members
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$100,000 fine
If the penalty for modifying the next generation single-source supplied part is considered a more serious L3 violation, the penalty may include some or all of the following:
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loss of 120 points for the driver and/or team owner
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Loss of 25 playoff points for driver and/or team owner
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A six-race race suspension for special crew members
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$250,00 fine
Gordon said Hendrick’s officials have been in contact with NASCAR about the hoodlums.
“We’ve had some talks, will continue to talk with NASCAR,” Gordon said. “Every situation is unique in a way, but this one is more unique than I’ve seen in a while, where there’s been a lot of communication back and forth on this particular part, especially for this racetrack because they have a parity Tested.wind tunnel.
“I think it really opened the door for some miscommunication. I don’t want to go any further than that. We will continue to be transparent and share all the facts with NASCAR for now.
Even after the hood louvers were taken on Friday, Hendrik won the pole with Larson and Byron third. Larson (201 laps) and Byron (64) led a combined 83.6 percent of the 317-lap race.
Byrne’s crew chief, Rudy Fugley, credited the organization’s focus on not letting the hoodlums case disrupt preparations for the weekend.
“It’s a test of mental strength,” Fugle said. That’s all it takes to be really good at this series. We have to think about what is work. We have to focus on this weekend. That’s what we all did.”
Gordon said that the Hendrick cars running so well in the race shows the strength of the organization.
“These guys have speed in the car,” said Gordon. “There was nothing, not last week, not this week, that was going to get them to Victory Lane other than hard work and great teamwork.”
Read more about NASCAR
What the drivers said at Phoenix Raceway NASCAR Cup Series results: William Byron wins at Phoenix William Byron Wins NASCAR Cup Series Race at Phoenix Raceway
Jeff Gordon: Seized parts ‘weighing on our minds’ at Hendrick Motorsports originally appeared NBCSports.com