NASCAR Crew Members and Crew Chief Suspended After Las Vegas

What’s Happening?

NASCAR has issued a suspension to two crew members and the Crew Chief of Patrick Staropoli’s No. 48 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series team following post-race inspection from this past weekend’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

• Per NASCAR’s penalty report, Big Machine Racing’s No. 48 team was found to violate Sections 10.5.2.5 B & E of the NASCAR Rule Book. This section covers the loss or separation of ballast from a car.
• Ballast is a piece of tungsten contained in a box used to ensure cars meet the minimum weight during a race weekend. The loss of ballast during a race, intentional or unintentional, presents safety issues for other drivers on track.
• Though it is unclear what resulted in the loss of ballast, NASCAR has moved to suspend two crew members, Dillon Bassett and Morgan Olsen, and the No. 48 team’s Crew Chief, Patrick Donahue, for four races.
• This means that, barring an appeal, the crew members and Donahue will not be available for competition until the April 18 race at Kansas Speedway. As of presstime, Big Machine Racing has yet to announce who will replace Donahue this weekend at Darlington Raceway.

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