By Aaron Bearden, Motorsports Editor
After a cumbersome penalty report leaving Darlington Raceway, the infraction sheet at Richmond Raceway came in much lighter with just three lug nuts issues for Kurt Busch, Erik Jones and Matt Tifft.
The No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford driven by Busch and No. 77 Furniture Row Racing Toyota driven by Jones in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series were each found with one loose lug nut during post-race inspection after Saturday’s Federated Auto Parts 400. Crew chiefs Tony Gibson (No. 41) and Chris Gayle (No. 77) were each fined $10,000 for the infraction.
The lone issue in the XFINITY Series came from Tifft’s No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, where another loose lug nut was observed after Friday’s Virginia529 College Savings 250. Tifft’s crew chief, Matt Beckman, was fined $5,000 for the violation.
The small report follows a much heftier infraction sheet leaving Darlington, where the race-winning cars (Cup and XFINITY) of Denny Hamlin and the second-place No. 22 car (XFINITY) of Joey Logano were all deemed encumbered after the race.