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Custer penalized, Shiplett suspended indefinitely over Roval finish
NASCAR has penalized Cole Custer and his Stewart-Haas Racing crew chief Mike Shiplett under the member code of conduct and performance obligation of the rule book after reviewing the last lap of Sunday’s race at the Charlotte Roval.
The behavioral penalty equals a $100,000 fine for Custer, while the No. 41 team has been docked 50 driver and 50 owner points. Shiplett has not only been fined $100,000 but has been indefinitely suspended from NASCAR competition.
Member code of conduct and performance obligation falls under sections 4.3.A, 4.4C, and 5.5 of the rule book.
NASCAR stated after the Bank of America Roval 400 that it was going to review data, video, and radio transmission from Custer’s team. Custer appeared to slow going down the backstretch on the final lap and easing into the chicane, which held up Austin Dillon and Erik Jones. As a result, Custer’s teammate Chase Briscoe was able to drive around all three of them for valuable positions as he raced to advance in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
Briscoe earned the final transfer spot by two points over reigning Cup Series champion Kyle Larson.
Despite the ruling, NASCAR has already confirmed that it will not change the Round of 8 drivers.
NASCAR senior vice president of competition Scott Miller said he will share the results from the investigation with the media later this afternoon.
Kelly Crandall
Kelly has been on the NASCAR beat full-time since 2013, and joined RACER as chief NASCAR writer in 2017. Her work has also appeared in NASCAR.com, the NASCAR Illustrated magazine, and NBC Sports. A corporate communications graduate from Central Penn College, Crandall is a two-time George Cunningham Writer of the Year recipient from the National Motorsports Press Association.
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