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NASCAR docks Austin Dillon 10 points, fines crew chief $25,000

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 - Practice

TALLADEGA, AL - APRIL 26: Austin Dillon, driver of the #3 Dow Chevrolet, practices for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 26, 2019 in Talladega, Alabama. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

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NASCAR fined crew chief Danny Stockman $25,000, suspended car chief Gregory Ebert one race and docked the team and driver Austin Dillon 10 points each for a violation this past weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.

A spokesperson said the Richard Childress Racing team does not plan to appeal the penalty.

NASCAR penalized the team for its deck lid, stating the deck lid must be used as supplied from the manufacturer and that body filler was added to the deck lid.

When the team checked its deck lid on Friday at Talladega with NASCAR’s devices, it found slight changes needed be made. The team made the changes and used bondo, leading to the penalty.

“We were just fixing a problem and it turned out we didn’t need to do that,” Dillon said after winning the pole last weekend at Talladega. “I’m sure Stockman was spun out about it, but speed-wise, I knew it wasn’t going to hurt us and moving forward, I hope that NASCAR takes into effect the entire story of it and whatever is dealt our way, we’ll handle it and go on from there.”

The penalty drops Dillon from 13th in the driver standings to 14th. Ryan Newman swaps places with Dillon, who now has 243 points. Jimmie Johnson is 16th, holding the final cutoff spot to the playoffs. Johnson has 238 points.

Also, NASCAR announced Tuesday that Jeremy Bullins, crew chief for Ryan Blaney, had been fined $10,000 because Blaney’s car had a lug nut not safe and secured after the race.