After the No.20 Dollar General Toyota owned by Joe Gibbs finished celebrating its victory in Sunday’s New Hampshire 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, the car was subject to the typical post-race inspection. While the No. 20 team was figuring out how to cook the lobster it received for capturing the checkered flag, things began to unravel, bringing the integrity of their victory into question.
Later Sunday evening, news broke that the Dollar General Toyota had failed a test at the laser inspection station, bringing in to question the legitimacy of Kenseth’s victory. Not wanting to jump to any conclusions, NASCAR announced that the car would undergo further tests this week.
Wednesday afternoon the No.20 team received it’s “punishment” for allegedly cheating at Loudon. Kenseth’s crew chief Jason Ratcliff will be forced to pay a $25.000 fine for Sunday’s incident, while Matt Kenseth was levied 15 points in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series chase standings. Team owner Joe Gibbs was also docked 15 points, but in the owner’s championship standings.
The No. 20 team will not be stripped of its victory at Loudon and race tuner up Tony Stewart will not receive any form of compensation for Kenseth’s cheating.
Kenseth led twice for 38 laps in his second of the season . After the race, his car failed the post-race laser inspection station measurements.