Getty Cliff Daniels (right) faces a four-race suspension after Sonoma.
The NASCAR Cup Series is off for one week after the trip to Sonoma Raceway. Once it returns to Nashville Superspeedway on June 26, Kyle Larson‘s team will be without crew chief Cliff Daniels and two crew members as they serve a four-race suspension.
The reason for the impending suspension is that the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro lost a wheel with 28 laps remaining in the Cup Series race, right after Larson had just completed his green-flag pit stop at Sonoma Raceway. The caution waved as he headed back to pit road for four fresh tires, and it kept him out of contention for his second consecutive Sonoma win.
The June 12 race marked the 10th time that a Cup Series car has lost a wheel during a race, which is a violation of Sections 10.5.2.6 in the NASCAR Rule Book: “Loss or separation of an improperly installed tire/wheel from the vehicle.” This infraction automatically results in a four-race suspension for the team’s crew chief and two crew members. The No. 5 team will also be without front changer Donnie Tasser and jackman Brandon Johnson.
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Several Teams Have Received Suspensions for Lost Wheels
GettyKyle Larson (front) is the latest driver to lose a wheel during a race.
Several teams have received penalties in 2022 due to lost wheels. The trend started during the Daytona 500 when both the No. 31 of Justin Haley and the No. 50 of Kaz Grala each lost a wheel. It continued with Todd Gilliland at Auto Club Speedway.
The next entries to lose wheels were the No. 7 of Corey LaJoie (Phoenix), No. 23 of Bubba Wallace (Circuit of the Americas), No. 78 of BJ McLeod (Talladega Superspeedway), No. 11 of Denny Hamlin (Dover Motor Speedway), and the No. 16 of AJ Allmendinger (Dover Motor Speedway). The No. 31 of Haley then lost another tire at Kansas Speedway and brought about the second round of four-race suspensions.
The No. 5 is the latest to lose a wheel, so there will be another round of suspensions. Hendrick Motorsports has the opportunity to appeal the decision, but none of the previous teams that did so were able to get the penalty overturned. This includes Joe Gibbs Racing, who argued that the lost wheel was due to the failure of the NASCAR-supplied gun and nut.
The Next 4 Weeks Are Crucial for Larson’s Team
Losing a crew chief and two crew members for four weeks is never ideal for a Cup Series competitor, especially in the middle of the regular season. For Larson, he will take on an important stretch of races.
The driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet is in the playoff grid after securing a win at Auto Club Speedway, but he is only seventh in the championship standings at the moment. Adding another win would help him secure an advantage heading into the Round of 16, but so will running consistently and securing stage points and strong finishes.
Larson is currently sixth overall in the Cup Series with 116 stage points through the first 16 races. He only has two stage wins while teammate Chase Elliott has a series-leading 136 stage points and three stage wins. He will have to pursue more without Daniels on the pit box during races at Nashville Superspeedway, Road America, Atlanta Motor Speedway, and New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
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