After the conclusion of Sunday’s The Real Heroes 400 Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway, NASCAR announced that six cars were found to have unsecured lug nuts.
The most serious of these offenses landed on the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Erik Jones, who had two unsecured lug nuts. He faces the penalty of a one race suspension for team crew chief Chris Gayle, who will also have to pay a $20,000 fine.
The pair finished eighth in Sunday’s race, and it is now uncertain if Jones will have Gayle atop the pit box for the Toyota 500 Wednesday night, where he will start 13th.
The pair have had success at the “Lady in Black,” having won the Southern 500 last year.
The other violations were for only one unsecured lug nut, claiming the cars of Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, Matt Kenseth, and race winner Kevin Harvick. The punishment for one unsecured lug nut is a fine of $10,000 for the crew chief.
