Drivers penalized for walking on Dover track during race

NASCAR penalized two drivers, Trevor Bayne and Jennifer Jo Cobb, after they did not stay near their vehicles following accidents and walked onto a hot track last weekend at Dover International Speedway.

Bayne was fined $25,000 and Cobb fined $5,000 for their respective infractions Wednesday. After crashing in Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race, Bayne left before safety workers arrived. Cobb walked up the track after wrecking during the Camping World Truck Series race and gestured toward Tyler Reddick, who she blamed for the accident.

The fines were disparate because Bayne competes in NASCAR’s premier division, while Cobb races in its No. 3 national series. Both drivers were also placed on probation through the end of the season.

NASCAR prohibits drivers from exiting their vehicles until instructed by a safety worker, except in the case of a fire. The rule went into place last August after Tony Stewart struck and killed Kevin Ward Jr. during a sprint-car race in Upstate New York. Ward was on-foot and walking angrily toward Stewart at the time of the accident.

Other penalties of note NASCAR issued Wednesday:

-- Defending Cup champion and current points leader Kevin Harvick will have the last selection of pit stalls for Sunday’s race at Pocono Raceway. His No. 4 team received written warnings in consecutive weeks. The first was for having to go through pre-race inspection more than three times before the May 24 event at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The second warning came when officials found a non-conforming exhaust pipe on Harvick’s car May 29 at Dover.

-- The crew chief and car chief for Xfinity Series driver Peyton Sellers were suspended one race when an unsecured weight fell out of the car hitting Carl Long’s machine. Crew chief John Monsam was also fined $15,000.

Long ended up wrecking when the weight punctured his radiator. He was uninjured.