John Klausmeier, the crew chief for Clint Bowyer on the #14 Stewart-Haas Racing team in the NASCAR Cup Series, has been suspended by NASCAR for one race, because the #14 had two improperly secured lug nuts at the end of the Foxwoods Resport Casino 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Aug. 2.
Additional penalties for the rules infraction include a $20,000 fine.
SHR Competition Director Greg Zipadelli will serve as Bowyer’s crew chief in the first of two races of a weekend doubleheader at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday. Klausmeier will return to the post for Sunday’s race at MIS.
Klausmeier was the third crew chief to be suspended because of a rules infration at New Hampshire. Jerry Baxter, crew chief for Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. on the #43 Richard Petty Motorsports team, and Ryan Sparks, crew chief on the #32 Go FAS Racing team of Corey LaJoie, each were suspended from the Michigan race after their cars were discovered to have improperly mounted ballast [weight] in during pre-race inspections. Those rules infractions also resulted in the teams and drivers losing 10 owner and driver points.
Three cars other than Bowyer’s had loose or missing lug nuts after the NHMS race. Brad Keselowski’s race-winning #2 Team Penske Ford, Martin Truex’s #19 and Tyler Reddick’s #8 each had a single lug nut improperly secured. Their respective crew chiefs each were fined $10,000.
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