Three teams hit with P3 penalties, have crew chiefs suspended

NASCAR Statement.

Three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams have been issued P3 penalties coming out of the Charlotte race weekend, which resulted in their respective crew chiefs being suspended for at least one race, according to the NASCAR penalty report released Wednesday evening. Additionally, a P2 penalty was handed down to Tony Stewart.

The Roush Fenway Racing No. 16 (Greg Biffle),Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 (Kurt Busch) andJTG Daugherty Racing No. 47 (AJ Allmendinger) teams, respectively, were hit with the P3 punishment.

Biffle's was the most severe. Multiple infractions were found during post-race inspection, including a body design that was either not submitted to NASCAR for approval or did not comply with the approved body designs. His crew chief, Brian Pattie, has been fined $50,000 and suspended for the next two races at Pocono and Michigan. The team will also lose 15 driver and 15 owner points.

Crew chiefs for Allmendinger (Randall Burnett) and Busch (Tony Gibson) were each fined $20,000 and suspended for the upcoming Pocono race. Both of their infractions were found in Section 10.11.3.4 a of the NASCAR Rule Book, which states: "All tires, and wheels, and all five lug nuts must be installed in a safe and secure manner at all times during the Event."

Stewart's P2 penalty included infractions in body design and surface conformance found during pre-race inspection. His crew chief, Mike Bugarewicz, has been placed on probation through Dec. 31.

Busch is second in the Sprint Cup Series points standings, behind only Stewart-Haas Racingteammate Kevin Harvick. His 11 top-10 finishes (through 13 races) leads all drivers. He finished sixth on Sunday in the Coca-Cola 600.

Biffle finished 11th in the 400-mile event, and was the random car selected for further post-race inspection on Tuesday at the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina. The penalty will drop him from 23rd place in the standings to 24th, behind Danica Patrick.

Allmendinger was 16th on Sunday, and he's currently one point behind Ryan Newman in the battle for the final spot in the 16-driver Chase Grid.

The NASCAR penalty scale ranges from P1 to P6 (most serious).

Other news from the penalty report:

• The No. 27 of Paul Menard was issued its second warning for failing pre-qualifying template inspection three times. He has received a written warning and was docked 15 minutes of practice time for the next event.

• The No. 20 of Matt Kenseth and No. 43 ofAric Almirola failed laser inspection twice pre-qualifying. It's the first offense for the 20 team, the first for the 43. They both received a written warning.

• The No. 43 also failed template inspection twice pre-qualifying. The No. 88 of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and No. 48 of Jimmie Johnson also failed twice. They all received a written warning.

• In the NASCAR XFINITY Series, the No. 16 ofRyan Reed and No. 18 of Joe Gibbs Racing failed inspection three times pre-race. Each received a written warning.