NASCAR announces penalties after Talladega weekend

Following last week’s Xfinity Series race at Talladega, NASCAR announced penalties against two teams. The No. 87 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet and No. 99 Viking Motorsports Chevrolet both violated rules regarding rear bumper covers.

Both teams received $25,000 fines, NASCAR said. In addition, they lost 20 driver and owner points, as well as five playoff points. The two cars violated Sections 14.4.A: Body and 14.4.11.C&D in the NASCAR rule book, according to the announcement.

Austin Green drove the No. 87 and didn’t qualify for the main event, and he will drop from 48th place in the standings to last as a result of the penalties. In the No. 99, Matt DiBenedetto finished fifth – tying his season-best – and will stay at 24th in the standings despite the point deductions.

Austin Hill won this past weekend’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race, marking his first Xfinity Series win at Talladega. He had wins at Daytona and Atlanta to his name, but had never taken down Talladega Superspeedway. That changed last week.

Hill was ahead at the time of a final-lap caution flag. Connor Zilisch made a block and got turned by Jesse Love, knocking him out of the lead as the cars went three-wide. Ultimately, it was determined Hill was in front when the caution came out, giving him the Xfinity Series race win.

However, Jeb Burton was emotional after the race and called for NASCAR to review the finish. He said he saw multiple angles and argued his 27 car was ahead of the pack at the time of the caution, although the angles NASCAR had showed Hill’s No. 21 in the lead at that point.

“Every angle I keep seeing, we win the race. Just frustrated with that, maybe they can give us a different angle here. I don’t know what’s so complicated, we’re gonna protest, do whatever the hell we can do because I think we won this race,” Burton said after the finish.

“We don’t have a lot of chances to win, you know?” Burton continued as he fought through tears. “That’s what’s frustrating.”

It was quite the finish to the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Talladega. The page will turn quickly this week, though, with Texas Motor Speedway coming up on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET. That will set the stage for Sunday’s Cup Series Race – the Würth 400 – on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Jonathan Howard contributed to this report.