By Aaron Bearden, Motorsports Editor
Kyle Busch’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team will have to look for another crew chief after sustaining a penalty for two improperly installed lug nuts following last weekend’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) race at Sonoma Raceway.
Interim crew chief Ben Beshore has been fined $20,000 and will be suspended for one race as part of the penalty.
Beshore served as interim crew chief in Sunday’s Toyota / Save Mart 350 for the third-straight race, while standard signal caller Adam Stevens sat out the third of a four-race suspension for an errant wheel during the MENCS June 4 event at Dover International Speedway.
Stevens will serve the final race of his suspension in Saturday’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
Busch led three laps en-route to a fifth-place finish in the 110-lap road course race, his third-consecutive top 10 with Beshore. Now the 2015 MENCS champion will likely be forced to attempt to continue the streak with a new name atop the box.
XFINITY Series
Daniel Hemric’s No. 21 Richard Childress Racing (chief) team was also issued a penalty for an improperly installed lug nut in Saturday’s XFINITY Series race at Iowa Speedway, where the rookie finished 21st.
RCR crew chief Danny Stockman has been fined $5,000 as part of the penalty.