Three NASCAR Ford Cup Series teams received drastic penalties following the race at Atlanta on February 25th, 2024. Two Ford Mustang Dark Horse race cars fielded by Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) were found to have illegal parts, which were seized before practice at Atlanta, while Joey Logano was found with an unapproved modification to his driving glove during the race. Last weekend at Las Vegas, NASCAR officials displayed and explained just what was wrong with the aforementioned items as per a report from NASCAR.com.
Right-side roof rails taken from SHR Mustang race cars
The roof rails were taken from the No. 41 Mustang driven by Ryan Preece and the No. 10 Mustang driven by Noah Gragson. Officials found that the roof air deflectors were not in compliance with the NASCAR Rule Book, resulting in 35 driver and owner points being docked.
Cup Series director Brad Moran explained that the rails are supposed to sit flush with the roof surface. However, the the right-side rails from both SHR cars had raised and pressed marks at the fastener holes instead of flat openings. This caused the roof rails to sit higher, putting them out of tolerance.
“That’s not done from tightening any bolts or anything else,” Moran said. “The head of the bolt is not that big, so these are pressed so they stand proud on top of the greenhouse, which is a problem. We don’t get into why they’re like that. They were only on the right side of those two vehicles, but they certainly don’t meet the CAD files, so that’s what the penalty was for.”
Joey Logano’s modified glove
Meanwhile, Logano tried to get away with wearing a webbed glove at Atlanta. At superspeedway races, drivers often block air at the window opening with their hands, and Logano’s webbed glove allowed him to block more air, therefore providing an aerodynamic advantage. He was forced to serve a pass-through penalty during the race and later fined $10,000.
“We’ve never really had a rule against it, but this obviously goes one step further and this becomes not only a competition problem, it becomes a safety violation because that glove is no longer SFI approved,” Moran explained. “Regardless of what the material is made of, regardless of who put it on there, it’s not as-delivered, it’s not as-tested and it’s an unapproved SFI piece of safety equipment.”
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Comments
Do they check for excessive flatulence’s also?
Maybe 2 different mechanics installed the left or right and hence tightened them differently.
I’m done with nascar.
Well NASCAR allows Hendrick’s cars to play with the rules and just get a slap on the wrist. I am done with the cup series its so crooked it makes me sick. I’ve always said if you want to see a real race go to your local short track.
The cup series sucks
Nascar is a joke now they are going too bring honda in no thanks I’m done
I know Bob all the xbrand cars continue to degrade all the Ford drivers !! They can’t take the heat
Support your local dirt track, a lot more fun !!!
Wow! how annal. What has happen to the days of stock car racing when you (run what you brung), when you ran 600 miles straight without stopping halfway through the race so the little girls could go pee!! Lord help us
I am unaware of any race in which that actually happens.
Go support your local short track to see “run what ya brung” huh?