On Friday morning, NASCAR inspectors seized several wheels from Team Penske and RFK Racing cars. Penske team drivers include Joey Lagana, Austin Cindrick, Ryan Blaney and Harrison Burton (for the Wood Brothers). RFK Racing pilots are Brad Keselowski and Chris Bushehr.
The tires were taken back to the NASCAR Research Center in Concord, North Carolina, for further inspection.
Any penalties that come will not be announced until the completion of the inspection at the R&D center.
A NASCAR spokesman told Motorsport.com that the discs in question were found in a garage Friday morning, and NASCAR did not believe they participated in or influenced the qualifying races on Thursday night – both of which were won by RFK Racing riders.
A representative of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. said “almost 85 per cent” of the tires are mounted on wheels before the start of the race weekend.
However, the team could potentially dismantle and reassemble the tire on the track, or something could be on the wheels after they were installed.
NASCAR’s updated penalty system provides for much harsher consequences for violations, including disqualification from the playoffs. An updated structure of fines L1 – L3 was announced along with the introduction of the next generation car.
The car signals big changes for the racing teams. The spec chassis manufactures for the Technique Inc. teams now have 18-inch aluminum discs with a single nut with central locking and a six-speed sequential manual transmission.
A Penske team spokesman declined to comment on the confiscation of the wheels, saying the organization would await the results of a further NASCAR inspection.