Daytona Beach, FL (SportsNetwork.com) – A brawl at Sunday’s AAA Texas 500
netted fines and suspensions for two crew chiefs and four crew members but no
penalties for the drivers who were involved, NACSAR announced Tuesday.
Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski and the teams for both drivers were involved
in a post-race fracas on pit road after the two clashed in the closing laps at
Texas Motor Speedway.
Gordon crew chief Alan Gustafson and the crew chief for Kasey Kahne, Kenny
Francis, were each fined $50,000 and placed on probation through the next six
Sprint Cup championship points races.
Under NASCAR rules, crew chiefs are said to assume responsibility for the
actions of their team members, leading to the sanctions for Gustafson and
Francis.
Two crew members on Gordon’s team, Dwayne Doucette and Jason Ingle, and Jeremy
Fuller from Kahne’s team were each fined $25,000 and also suspended for the
next six championship points races.
Another Gordon crew member, Dean Mozingo, was fined $10,000 and suspended
three races.
“While the intensity and emotions are high as we continue through the final
rounds of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, the actions that we saw from
several crew members Sunday following the race at Texas are unacceptable,”
NASCAR’s Robin Pemberton said in a statement.
Pemberton said NASCAR “reviewed the content that was available to us of the
post-race incident along pit road, and identified several crew members who
crossed the line with their actions, specifically punching others.”
He said those actions led to the penalties against the six men and that NASCAR
felt Gustafson and Francis were “ultimately … responsible for members of
their team per the NASCAR rulebook.”
“A NASCAR championship is at stake, but we can’t allow behavior that crosses
the line to go unchecked, particularly when it puts others in harm’s way,” he
said.
Gordon and Kahne race for Hendrick Motorsports, which said it would not appeal
the penalties and would also not subject the team members to further internal
sanctions.
