NASCAR slaps Front Row with huge penalties after Pocono violation

NASCAR has issued an L2-level penalty against Front Row Motorsports' No.34 team following last weekend's race at Pocono after a technical violation was detected during post-race inspection.

Michael McDowell and the team have been docked 100 driver and owner points after the car was determined to be in breach of Sections 14.1 C, D and Q as well as Sections 14.5 A and B in the NASCAR Rule Book, which cover body and vehicle assembly rules relating to modification to a single-source supplied part.

In addition, McDowell's crew chief Blake Harris has been fined $100,000 and suspended from the next four NASCAR Cup Series rounds. If McDowell and the team win one of the five races remaining in the regular season and/or qualify for the playoffs, they will also be penalized 10 playoff points.

McDowell was credited with a sixth at Pocono following the Sunday disqualifications of Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, who finished first and second before falling afoul of post-race technical inspection. McDowell’s car and the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Chevrolet driven by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were randomly selected to be taken back to the NASCAR R&D Center for further inspection after the race.

The L2-level penalty falls in the middle of the new tiered penalty system unveiled by NASCAR prior to the 2022 season.