Team Penske won’t appeal crew chief Paul Wolfe’s NASCAR probation

Team Penske won’t appeal crew chief Paul Wolfe’s probation for the No. 2 team modifying the wheel openings on Brad Keselowski’s Ford before Sprint Cup qualifying at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

In a statement Wednesday morning, the team said:

Team Penske was notified by NASCAR regarding penalties levied against the No. 2 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team and crew chief Paul Wofle following last week’s event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Team Penske will not be appealing the penalty. Instead, the No. 2 team remains focused on winning its first race of season this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway and locking itself into the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

NASCAR levied its punishment Tuesday to Wolfe (who is on probation through Dec. 31), classifying the infraction as a P2 penalty that violated the following sections of the Sprint Cup Rule Book:

12.1: Actions detrimental to stock car racing;

20.4.b: Body – All approved OEM-manufactured body components must be used as supplied except as required to stiffen, or to attach to other vehicle components. Tolerances from CAD surfaces and template tolerances are provided to allow for manufacturing, fabrication, and installation variability;

20.4.2: Surface Conformance – Coordinate measuring machines, scanning equipment, and templates, among other tools, will be used to inspect body surfaces for conformance to the approved OEM and NASCAR CAD files.