Kyle Busch’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team is facing significant penalties after a left-rear wheel came off Busch’s car during Sunday’s Monster Energy Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway.
Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing face major penalties after wheel comes off during Dover NASCAR race
A wheel came off Kyle Busch’s car during Sunday’s Cup Series race at Dover, an infraction that will likely result in NASCAR penalizing Joe Gibbs Racing.
Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images
Starting on the pole, Busch led the first 18 laps before Ryan Sieg’s single-car spin put the AAA 400 under caution and brought Busch down pit road for his stop of the afternoon. But in midst of the pit stop Busch’s jack man lowered the car before the rear tire changer could properly secure any of the five lug nuts on the left-rear wheel, and as Busch pulled away the wheel came off.
Busch had to circle the one-mile with only three wheels before he could come back down pit road, where the team fastened a new wheel and fixed the fender damage the mishap caused. He would resume the race and finish 16th.
Under a rule established in 2016, crew chief Adam Stevens, tire carrier Kenny Barber, and tire changer Jake Seminara each face a minimum four-race suspension. The NASCAR rulebook states: “Loss of wheel(s) due to improper installation will result in a mandatory minimum four-race suspension of the crew chief and the tire changer and tire carrier of the lost wheel(s).”
Any penalties would likely be announced Wednesday.
A similar situation unfolded during the Camping World Truck Series race on Friday. Chase Briscoe of Brad Keselowski Racing had just made a pit stop and was leaving pit road when the left-front tire came off the No. 29 truck.
Briscoe’s team faces the same degree of penalties as Busch’s team.
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