NASCAR managing director explains penalty, suspensions for Kyle Larson, No. 5 team

NASCAR issued its penalty report on Wednesday, dishing a very significant punishment out to Austin Cindric for his right-rear hooking of Ty Dillon. But Kyle Larson also appeared on the penalty report.

Kyle Larson lost his front right tire on the track at COTA. That’s an automatic penalty.

“One penalty we can talk about is the No. 5 team, who lost a tire,” NASCAR managing director of racing communications Mike Forde said on the Hauler Talk podcast. “Not much to really tell on this one, I think it’s a penalty that fans are pretty familiar with.

“So when a team loses a tire off of pit road, when it’s on the racetrack, it is 2-2-2. So a two-lap penalty and a two-race suspension to two crew members. So that will be part of the penalty report. That is a somewhat new rule. It’s about two years old now. So in January of 2023 we did announce that we were going to adjust the rule.”

While the penalty is tough — Kyle Larson loses a jackman and a tire changer, Brandon Johnson and Blaine Anderson — it’s not unexpected. And it’s actually less harsh than the penalty used to be.

“When the Next Gen car came into effect in 2022, that very first season we had a different rule when you lost a tire, and that would be an immediate four-race suspension to I want to say four crew members, maybe, or two crew members,” Forde said. “So two crew members and the crew chief would be lost for four races.”

That was a very stiff penalty, one Kyle Larson will feel good about avoiding, essentially sidelining a crew chief for an entire month of the season. Not everyone was a fan.

“Apparently we (hated it) too. Because in 2023, that was, we got a lot of feedback that that penalty didn’t fit the crime, punishment didn’t fit the crime on that one,” Forde said. “So we shifted it to a two-lap penalty, so you got a little bit of an in-race sting, because that was also part of it. With a four-race suspension to two crew members and the crew chief, it didn’t really affect the race. You could have lost your wheel and still won the race.

“You can still do that now, but it’s way harder, of course, because a two-lap penalty with this type of field, this deep a field, you’re probably not coming back from that. But if you do it early enough in the race you might be able to. Larson obviously was not.”

But the ruling is very unambiguous. Kyle Larson will have to abide by it.

“He’ll lose two crew members for two races here, coming up Phoenix and Las Vegas,” Forde said. “Pending appeal, of course. The team has the right to appeal that one. TBD if that actually happens.”