Entering a race he needs to win if he’s to qualify for the playoffs, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will likely be without a key team member in next week’s Monster Energy Cup Series regular season finale.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s crew chief facing suspension for unsecured lug nuts on No. 88 car
NASCAR officials found two improperly fastened lug nuts on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s car following Sunday night’s race at Darlington.
Officials found two improperly secured lug nuts on Earnhardt’s No. 88 Chevrolet following the Southern 500 Sunday night at Darlington Raceway. Per NASCAR’s rules, that violation triggers an automatic one-race suspension and $20,000 fine for crew chief Greg Ives.
Earnhardt finished 22nd at Darlington, attributed in part to contact with a wall that caused a bad vibration and eventually his right-rear tire to lose air. It was during this pit stop when the No. 88 crew failed to fasten each of the five lug nuts on all four wheels.
“I had a really bad vibration that last run and there was a bunch of them loose on the right-rear,” Earnhardt said. “They must have just kind of had a screw-up.
“It wasn’t intentional, they wouldn’t leave two loose like that when they are not even tight up on the wheel. So something must have happened on the pit stop because those guys have been great all night.”
Any penalties would be announced by Wednesday. Hendrick Motorsports can appeal the sanctions, though most teams elect not to do so.
Earnhardt, who is retiring as a full-time driver at the end of the season, needs to win at Richmond Raceway to earn a spot in the 16-driver playoff field. He ranks 22nd in points with a best finish of fifth in 25 races this season.
Ives has faced criticism from Earnhardt’s legion of supporters amidst a season where NASCAR’s 14-time most popular driver has struggled on the track. In addition to being winless, Earnhardt has nine finishes of 30th or worse and led only 24 laps.
Throughout the season, Earnhardt has defended his embattled crew chief. He did so again Sunday night in a Periscope question-and-answer session, saying Ives wasn’t to blame for the unsecured lug nuts.
“I’m reading on Twitter about Greg being suspended for a week, we’ll work through that,” Earnhardt said. “That doesn’t concern me. This team can handle that type of stuff. Greg can handle it, he’s a tough guy. We’ll get through that. It happens.”
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