NASCAR 2015 News, Rumors: Slugger Labbe Suspended
NASCAR has suspended Crew Chief Slugger Labbe of the no. 33 race team for three weeks and fined him $50,000. Labbe will also be placed on probation through the end of 2015 and car owner Joe Falk has been docked 25 car owner points. All of these punishments stem from violations on the no. 33 car driven last week in California by Brian Scott.
The no. 33 team was outside the NASCAR rule book for having an unapproved truck trailer arm installation and it was a P4 rules violation that is among the most serious offenses. NASCAR also levied a penalty for actions detrimental to stock car racing which is the racing leagues personal conduct penalty. NASCAR confiscated the pieces after the car failed its pre race inspection. Scott qualified for the race in the 25th spot and finished in the 27th earning a purse of over 100 thousand dollars.
The #33 team is a team driven by several drivers in a joint effort by Richard Childress Racing and Circle Sport. They are running all of the races to keep the car in the top 35 in owner's points for a guaranteed starting spot each week. RCR is suing the car to get seat time for its young drivers like Scott and Ty Dillon.
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While the fine is a hefty one the real damage could be the loss of 25 points owner's point which could drop the no. 33 team out of a guaranteed starting spot. With 46 teams trying to qualify for 43 places this weekend at Martinsville that could be the difference between making the race and going home.
The no. 33 team was not the only team to receive penalties.
"NASCAR issued behavioral penalties to five XFINITY crew members for failure to comply with a directive from track security during pre-race activities March 21 at Auto Club Speedway. The crew members, who were working for driver Blake Koch's No. 8 XFINITY Series team, were Mark Armstrong, Tyler Bullard, Nathaniel House, Jeremy Howard and Ryan Mulder." FoxSports reported.
