Rick Hendrick

NASCAR Hits Hendrick Motorsports with Largest Penalties in History of the Sport

Hendrick Motorsports is being slammed with some massive penalties by NASCAR.

It all began earlier last weekend, when NASCAR confiscated the hood louvers from all four Hendrick cars, as well as Kaulig Racing’s No. 31 team. Officials wanted to inspect the parts further, and evidently, they found something they did not like.

Both Hendrick and Kaulig’s No. 31 have been hit with huge penalties, including fines and point deductions, as well as crew chief suspensions. Here’s the full list of what they’re dealing with, as Jeff Gluck of The Athletic shared to Twitter.

“Massive penalties to all four Hendrick Motorsports cars and Kaulig’s No. 31 team have just been announced by #NASCAR,” tweeted Gluck. “Each team loses 100 points, fined $100k and loses their crew chief for four weeks. Also lose 10 playoff points if they make it.”

Moreover, Gluck added that the $400k fine for Hendrick is the largest fine given out to a team in NASCAR history, surpassing Michael Waltrip Racing’s $300k fine from 2013.

“Michael Waltrip Racing was fined $300k in 2013. The $400k fine for Hendrick makes this the largest single fine to one team in NASCAR history,” Gluck added.

Even after Hendrick Motorsports dealt with the confiscation, their cars had a great day at Phoenix. William Byron won the race, while their other three drivers all came home in the top ten.

It remains to be seen how it’ll affect the remainder of the 2023 season for Hendrick, especially after their hot start.

Hendrick star Kyle Larson wasn’t concerned about louvers, penalties

After the news broke, one Hendrick star wasn’t worried. Kyle Larson was even joking about not knowing what a louver was when asked by the media last weekend.

“I don’t know anything about a race car anyway, so I had to ask what a louver was. Joking, a little bit there. But yeah you worry about potential penalties I guess,” stated Larson. “I don’t really know what was wrong with them. That’s not part of my job is to worry about that. Yeah, we’ll see how next week goes I guess.”

Larson didn’t sweat any changes, and even said he “wasn’t concerned at all” about the situation. Evidently, Larson and Hendrick as whole may should’ve been, as NASCAR came down hard on them.