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Points penalty won’t affect Matt Tifft’s position in playoffs

NASCAR XFINITY Series Drive for the Cure 300 presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina

CHARLOTTE, NC - OCTOBER 07: Matt Tifft, driver of the #19 MotoRad Toyota, races during the NASCAR XFINITY Series Drive for the Cure 300 presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 7, 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

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NASCAR penalized an Xfinity Series playoff team Wednesday, but it won’t affect its points position entering the Round of 8 that begins next week at Kansas Speedway.

Matt Tifft’s No. 19 Toyota was docked 10 drivers and owners points for being found too low after finishing ninth Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The deduction is applied after the Round of 12 cutoff race and before the points were reset for the next round. Tifft still advances because he was 16 points ahead of the cutoff line, though the Joe Gibbs Racing driver will be without crew chief Matt Beckman, who was suspended from the next race.

Tifft will begin the next round in eighth place with 3,004 points, 22 behind leader William Byron.

The No. 11 Chevrolet of Blake Koch also was found to be too low, earning a 10-point deduction and one-race suspension for crew chief Chris Rice. Koch already was eliminated from the playoffs after the three-race Round of 12.

Rice and Beckman also were fined $10,000 apiece.

In the Monster Energy Cup Series, NASCAR issued a $10,000 fine to Scott Graves, crew chief for Daniel Suarez, for an unsecure lug nut after Sunday’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

NASCAR also announced the indefinite suspension of Dennis O’Connor for violating the substance abuse policy. Crew member Reid T. Ferguson was reinstated from indefinite suspension after completing the Road to Recovery program.