NASCAR hits No. 4 Cup team with L2-level penalty for modification of single-source part

UPDATE: Stewart-Haas Racing announced Friday that it will appeal the penalty to the No. 4 team. Crew chief Rodney Childers will still sit out for Sunday’s race at Charlotte, with team engineer Stephen Doran serving as interim crew chief.

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NASCAR officials issued L2-level penalties Wednesday to the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford team for unapproved modification of a single-source part.

The infraction, which falls under the heading of Sections 14.1 (vehicle assembly) and 14.5 (body), resulted in a 100-point penalty for both driver Kevin Harvick and the No. 4 SHR team in their respective Cup Series points standings. Additionally, crew chief Rodney Childers was fined $100,000 and suspended from the next four Cup Series events.

RELATED: Cup Series standings | Full Cup schedule

The No. 4 Ford — driven to a 29th-place finish in last Sunday’s YellaWood 500 — was one of two cars taken back to the NASCAR Research & Development Center after last weekend’s race at Talladega Superspeedway. The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for Martin Truex Jr. was also taken to the R&D Center for further post-race inspection.

Childers, who just celebrated his 600th Cup Series start at Talladega, would be eligible to return for the Nov. 6 season finale at Phoenix Raceway. The team did not immediately announce whether it would appeal the penalty.

A behavioral penalty was also handed down in another NASCAR national series.

Competition officials indefinitely suspended Andrew Abbott, crew chief for the No. 20 Young’s Motorsports team in the Camping World Truck Series, for violating the NASCAR Member Code of Conduct (Sections 4.3.A and 4.4). Officials indicated that “completion of NASCAR-mandated anger management training is a pre-requisite to reinstatement.”