The No. 17 team of RFK Racing has taken a hard hit after the trip to Kansas Speedway. The team has received an L1-level penalty from NASCAR due to an issue found in teardown inspection.
According to the weekly penalty report, the No. 17 team violated Sections 14.1.C: Overall Assembled Vehicle Rules; 14.5.4.G: Front Bumper Cover. This rule allows for the inside of the bumpers to be reinforced up to 2 inches around the foam. NASCAR did not detail how far the team went over this allowed limit.
As a result, NASCAR took away 60 driver points, 60 owner points, five playoff points (driver), and five playoff points (owner). NASCAR fined the team $75,000 and suspended crew chief Scott Graves for two races. He will be eligible to return after the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
RFK Racing stated that it will examine the details of the situation and determine whether to appeal within the time allotted by the NASCAR Rule Book.
"As we tore it down, we found an issue with the front bumper cover," Brad Moran, Cup Series managing director, said on the "Hauler Talk" podcast. "The rules were put in place back in like 2022. It is a single-source part, but it is an area that we allow reinforcing in.
"It's allowed to be reinforced behind the front bumper foam in the maximum of 2 inches around that area. Unfortunately, the 17 did not meet that rule and had a larger area than what is permitted to be bonded into the nose piece, which resulted in a violation."
This L1-level penalty significantly impacted Chris Buescher's pursuit of a playoff spot. He left Kansas Speedway 12th in the Cup Series standings after scoring an eighth-place finish. Now, however, he is 24th in the standings. He heads to North Wilkesboro Speedway with 224 points. He is three points behind Todd Gilliland, Zane Smith, and Austin Dillon.
The fall to 24th place has an impact on another RFK Racing driver. Ryan Preece, who left Kansas sitting 16th in the standings, now moves up one spot. He is the last driver above the playoff cutline on points. Las Vegas winner Josh Berry is now 16th in the standings. Kyle Busch is the first driver out of a playoff spot at -7.
Buescher will not have an opportunity to score back some of these points this weekend. He will compete in the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, which does not count toward the championship standings. The next points-paying race will be the Coca-Cola 600 on May 25.