NASCAR had recently levied an L-2 level penalty on Hendrick Motorsports for illegal modification of the hood louvers. The penalty is the biggest one yet with a combined amount of a whopping $400,000 for the team, and a reduction in 100 team and driver points along with 10 playoff points. However, their points penalty was later rescinded.
But the relief for Hendrick Motorsports was quite short. NASCAR picked up William Byron‘s #24 and Alex Bowman’s #48 for a post-race inspection after the Richmond race. They discovered that the team again violated NASCAR’s rule and levied an L-1 level penalty. However, Couch Racer, a venture of Bubba Wallace‘s spotter Freddie Kraft, questioned NASCAR on Twitter about sparing the winning car for post-race inspection and leaving the team with the potential of getting into debt.
Couch Racer questions NASCAR’s selective approach
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Every week, NASCAR randomly selects two cars from the race and does their thorough inspection at its R&D department in North Carolina. NASCAR aimed at digging deep into Hendrick Motorsports yet again, but has apparently missed out on the winner’s car.
While picking out on their inconsistencies, Couch Racer tweeted,
Random question…. If you’re gonna take the 24 and 48 to R&D for Teardown why wouldn’t you take the 5 being as that team won the race?
This is a VERY important question.
— Couch Racer (@CouchRacerShop) April 6, 2023
Kyle Larson, who scored the pole did not get under NASCAR’s scrutiny while the #24 and #48 drivers, who finished 24th and 8th respectively, did. NASCAR fined $75,000 each to the crew chiefs and suspended them for the next two races along with a 60 team and driver’s points reduction and 5 playoff points for modifying the greenhouses of both cars.
The weekly random check didn’t seem all that random after all. The team has a financial load of a whopping $550,000 and can soon fall into debt as the NASCAR writer reveals.
Is Hendrick Motorsports headed toward bankruptcy?
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The current revenue model for the teams accounts for 60-80% of revenue from sponsorships and the remaining from NASCAR’s media deals. Being such a capital-intensive sport, teams require enormous funds to put their car on the track. NASCAR writer, Austin Konenski shed some light on the same.
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Hendrick Motorsports has now been fined a total of $550,000 for modifying areas of the car during the 2023 season.
Jeff Gordon said the organization didn’t make money last season due to the financial model so this is not going to help the situation for them.
— Austin Konenski (@AustinKonenski) April 6, 2023
Over half a million dollars in penalty and no revenues in the previous season add up to the ongoing misery that Hendrick Motorsports is facing. The repeated violations proved to be very costly for the team, hinting toward impeding debt. Sustenance has become a prime concern for the team and only time seems to have an answer for that.
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Watch This Story: Dale Earnhardt Jr defends Hendrick Motorsports against ‘Cheating’ allegations while blaming “Miscommunication” to be the cause of $400,000 fiasco