Two pieces of tungsten ballast fell out of Denny Hamlin’s #11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota during the pace laps prior to the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday night. As a result, Chris Gabehart, car chief Brandon Griffeth and engineer Scott Simmons have been suspended from the next four NASCAR Cup Series races.
Hamlin pitted prior to the initial green flag so that the lost weight could be replaced to bring his car up to NASCAR’s minimum weight requirement. He started the race eight laps down and wound up 29th out of 40 cars at the checkered flag.
The first race the suspended team members will miss will be a second-consecutive race at Charlotte on Wednesday night. The suspensions will last through June 10, also including races at Bristol Motor Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway.
Joe Gibbs Racing has the option of appealing the penalties, but the race team already has announced it won’t make an appeal. the loss of weight was caught on camera by FOX.
