NASCAR revealed the penalty report following this past weekend’s triple-header action at Atlanta Motor Speedway between February 22-23.
The only pair of penalties that were issued were towards the No. 00 Haas Factory Team (HFT) Ford Mustang team and the No. 48 Big Machine Racing (BMR) Chevrolet Camaro team in the Xfinity Series division. Both entries were found to have violated Sections 8.8.10.4a of the NASCAR Rule Book that pertained to a lug nut not properly installed on the entries following this past Saturday’s event at Atlanta.
As a result of the loose lug nut penalty, Jonathan Toney, crew chief for the No. 00 HFT Ford team, and Patrick Donahue, crew chief for the No. 48 BMR Chevrolet team, were fined $5,000 each. The No. 00 HFT Ford entry, which Sheldon Creed is piloting, is coming off a 14th-place result this past weekend at Atlanta. The No. 48 BMR Chevrolet entry, piloted by rookie Nick Sanchez, is coming off a fifth-place run at Atlanta.
Amid their respective finishes at Atlanta, Creed is ranked in the runner-up spot in the 2025 driver’s standings, where he trails points leader and this past weekend’s winner Austin Hill by a single point, while Sanchez vaulted to 15th place in the standings.
There were no additional penalties levied on any of the Craftsman Truck or Cup Series teams. In addition, the Cup entries of Kyle Busch and Zane Smith, both of which were taken to the R&D center in Concord, North Carolina, for further inspection, were both ruled clear.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams and competitors have the next two weekends off and will return to action at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 14th. Meanwhile, the Xfinity Series returns to action at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) this Saturday, March 1st, at 2:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network. The Cup Series will also compete at COTA on Sunday, March 2nd, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
