NASCAR penalizes Shane van Gisbergen for unapproved adjustment at Kansas

Another unapproved adjustment violation. NASCAR has penalized Shane van Gisbergen just as they did with Michael McDowell. The 88 team made an adjustment after inspections and got caught. So, Sunday is going to be a bit tougher for them.

As a result of the penalty, Shane van Gisbergen loses pit stall selection, has to start in the rear, and will have to do a stop-and-go on pit road. On top of that, crew chief Stephen Doran has been ejected for the weekend.

The penalty will have SVG drop from his P24 qualifying spot to the rear of the field. Michael McDowell qualified P21 but will also drop to the back of the field. Ryan Blaney crashed in practice and didn’t make a time in qualifying.

Earlier this season, van Gisbergen had a promising run at Kansas. He finished P20. It is going to be difficult to recreate that result now that he has this penalty. The last top-20 finish for SVG on an oval came at Daytona. Before that, he had a P14 finish at Richmond.

If there is one thing that Shane van Gisbergen and his team can take solace in, is that they won’t be the only ones. The 71 team will join them in the stop-and-go and other penalties.

Shane van Gisbergen, Michael McDowell penalized

Michael McDowell’s team was observed making an adjustment. McDowell’s team had already failed inspection twice, and then doubled down and made the adjustment to the splitter.

NASCAR has announced that crew chief Travis Peterson will be ejected. On top of that, McDowell’s team will lose pit stall selection, will have to start in the rear, and perform a stop-and-go penalty when the race goes green on Sunday. Cody Ware was the only other car to fail inspection twice and will lose stall selection as well as his car chief.

The 71 team has been pretty aggressive on setups this season. There are two other examples of the team failing inspection twice. Back in March at Phoenix and then again in May at Charlotte.

Of course, Michael McDowell’s team isn’t in the NASCAR Playoffs. So, they might feel more emboldened to try to get away with these adjustments and setups. Well, it didn’t work this time.

The NASCAR Playoffs take on the second race of the Round of 12. It will set the field for the elimination race at the Roval. McDowell and his team are likely more focused on making the most of their time on the track next week.