NASCAR has handed out penalties to Ross Chastain, Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace and their teams for actions on the track at Martinsville Speedway.
All three drivers were penalized for race manipulation in the Martinsville NASCAR race on Sunday, NASCAR announced Tuesday.
Each driver was given a $100,000 fine and lost 50 drivers points. NASCAR also fined the owners of each team, Trackhouse Racing, Richard Childress Racing and 23XI Racing, $100,000 and deducted 50 owners points.
Crew chiefs Phil Surgen, Justin Alexander and Bootie Barker, along with their respective spotters Brandon McReynolds, Brandon Benesch and Freddie Kraft, were all suspended for the 2024 season finale at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday.
Chastain and Dillon were penalized for creating a blockade and not passing fellow Cheverolet driver, William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports, in the closing laps of the Xfinity 500. Byron faded from the lead late in the race and was in sixth place when Chastain and Dillon caught up to him.
Byron was one point above the cut line and could not be passed by another car in order to get into the Championship 4.
Wallace was penalized for slowing down for fellow Toyota driver Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell in the final laps of the race in an effort to get Bell into the Championship 4 over Byron.
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On the last lap, Bell drove his Toyota hard into turn 3 and got loose before hitting the wall and riding the wall to the checkered flag, similar to Chastain’s “Hail Melon” move in 2022. Bell was penalized for a safety violation and Byron got the final spot in the Championship 4.
Additionally, team executives Tony Lunders, Keith Rodden and Dave Rogers were also suspended for the 2024 finale at Phoenix.
Richard Childress Racing and 23XI Racing announced that they would appeal the ruling.
Follow sports writer Austin Chastain on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @ChastainAJ or reach him via email at achastain@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NASCAR: Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, Austin Dillon penalized
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