NASCAR penalty report released after weekend at Phoenix Raceway

NASCAR just released its penalty report for the races that took place at Phoenix Raceway this weekend. The only penalties reported were for the teams of Xfinity Series drivers William Sawalich (No. 18) and Brandon Jones (No. 20). Both teams were fined $5,000 for not properly installing lug nuts. The incidents were found during a post-race inspection on Saturday.

Sawalich and Jones both drive from Joe Gibbs Racing. Both had strong performances at the Phoenix Xfinty race, as Sawalich finished 13th and Jones finished third behind Alex Bowman and Aric Almirola.

William Sawalich is in his rookie season and is off to a strong start. After finishing 28th at Daytona, the 18-year-old earned ninth-place finishes at Atlanta and COTA. Brandon Jones’ third-place finish was his first top-10/5 finish of the year. In 306 Xfinity series starts, Jones has earned five victories and 120 top-10 finishes.

Joe Gibbs Racing is likely not too worried about the NASCAR Xfinity Series penalty report

Joe Gibbs Racing likely isn’t too concerned about the penalties because of how minor they are. Also, things are going well for the team as Christopher Bell has won the last three Cup Series races and shows no signs of slowing down.

“It means a lot to all of us,” team owner Joe Gibbs told reporters after Bell’s victory on Sunday. “At our race team, we pride ourselves on everybody working together at the shop, all four teams working together. But this is rare right here, what we’re experiencing. It’s something special. I want to enjoy it. To have a car win three, then to have Denny [Hamlin] there, other two cars… Kind of amazing when you go to the racetrack you can win a race and still have two of your cars that you’re down with what happened.”

Gibbs was also asked what it would mean for the team if Bell won four consecutive races. “Well, I think it’s what you said, puts him in an elite class,” he said. “Three in a row is a huge deal. If we could do that, I know they’ll be going there with excitement and thinking that they have a chance. I think that’s all you can ask in pro sports is a chance to do something great. They’ll have a chance to do that next week.

“I told them that on pit road today, the pit crew. Right now, they’re kind of in a rare field of people that have accomplished things. It’s out there for the,m and we’ll see what happens.”