By Aaron Bearden, Motorsports Editor
Joe Gibbs Racing will be without three of the organization’s car chiefs when the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Sonoma Raceway next weekend.
NASCAR assessed one-race suspensions to the car chiefs of Denny Hamlin (No. 11), Kyle Busch (No. 18) and Erik Jones (No. 20) after the sanctioning body discovered unapproved splitters on each of their cars during pre-race inspection for Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway. All three drivers were required to start at the tail-end of the field as a result of the infractions.
The car chiefs missing the upcoming Toyota/Save Mart 350 are Jason Overstreet (Jones), Nate Bellows (Busch) and Brandon Griffeth (Hamlin) Nate Bellows (Busch). The crew chiefs for each team – Mike Wheeler (Hamlin), Adam Stevens (Busch) and Chris Gayle (Jones) – were also fined $25,000 for the infractions.
JGR will not appeal the decision.