NASCAR ejected crew members in Las Vegas ahead of the Pennzoil 400. The league is taking the rules very seriously this season.
What Went Down
- NASCAR ejected crew from five teams in Las Vegas.
- The ejections were made on Friday night after failures in the pre-qualifying inspection.
- Teams affected are: Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott, Harrison Burton, Todd Gilliland, and Josh Bilicki.
- Each team involved failed inspection twice and loses pit selection.
While these teams figure things out, NASCAR isn’t cutting anyone slack. Harvick said that it has been a challenge for teams to figure out the new cars. So, inspection failures like this are expected. That doesn’t mean you won’t be punished for it.
NASCAR ejected car chiefs for Las Vegas for the most part. Robert Smith from Harvick’s team, Matt Varndt from Elliott’s, Cody Sauls from Burton’s, and Tony Manzer on Gilliland’s crew. Bilicki’s team is going to lose engineer Nicholas Sowa as a result. Oh, and to add insult to injury, these teams will lose pit selections. Tough break.
Gilliand is going to be hit harder after NASCAR ejected his crew chief for Las Vegas. Seth Barbour and crew members Jourdan Osinskie and Tanner Andrews were pulled as a result of last week’s race. Gilliland’s car had a loose wheel last Sunday. This isn’t the first time that we have seen issues like this in the early 2022 season.
After the Daytona 500, the No.50 for TMT Racing was penalized for having a wheel pop off midrace. Justin Haley also had the same thing happen. So, they went to Fontana without their crew chiefs and will have to go through three more races without them and other crew members. The punishment was a suspension for four championship points events.
NASCAR Crew Members Ejected in Las Vegas, How Will it Play Out?
This isn’t a slight at the other drivers involved, but this really hurts Kevin Harvick and Chase Elliott the most. These are two guys that go out every race and expect to be a top-10 driver. For those guys like Burton and Gilliland and Bilicki, things are going to be tougher than usual. Getting through this race is going to be a chore.
Gilliland is in a tough spot. His crew has been gutted due to these penalties. But, that’s what happens when you fail inspections or have issues like a loose wheel. NASCAR doesn’t take it lightly. And that’s something that Steve Phelps has made clear from the beginning of the season.
NASCAR ejected the crew members for Las Vegas, and these teams are going to feel the results of that. Let’s see if one of these drivers can overcome and have a great race on Sunday.
