The battle for NASCAR's little-known bonus awarded to the highest-finishing non-chartered team in the season-ending owner points standings resulted in shady activity in the 2019 Cup Series season-finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 17 among four race teams as they attempted to get said bonus for Premium Motorsports' #27 team.
Their manipulation of the Ford EcoBoost 400 finishing order went unnoticed by NASCAR officials until speculation was raised by fans on the NASCAR Reddit page. That speculation led to an investigation by NASCAR, and that investigation led to penalties that were announced by the sanctioning body Wednesday.
“Following a thorough review of race data and driver/team communication from the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, as well as interviews with several competitors NASCAR has determined that the Nos. 15, 27, 52 and 77 teams have violated Sections 12.8.g and 12.8.1 of the NASCAR rule book, which addresses manipulating the outcome of a race,” NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Scott Miller said. “As a result, those teams in violation of the rule book have been penalized.”
Jay Robinson, owner of the Premium Motorsports #15 and #27 teams; Rick Ware, owner of the #52 Rick Ware Racing team; and T.J. Puchyr, owner of the #77 Spire Motorsports team, each were fined $50,000. Scott Eggleston, Competition Director for both Premium Motorsports and Spire Motorsports, and Kenneth Evans, Rick Ware Racing Competition Director, each were fined $25,000 and indefinitely suspended from NASCAR competition.
Each team also was docked 50 owner points. The #27 team, with Ross Chastain as driver at Homestead, finished 35th in the race, and as a result, the #27 team beat the #96 Gaunt Brothers Racing team by one point in the season-ending owner points standings for the bonus among non-chartered teams. But the points deduction moved the #96 ahead of the #27 to officially take the bonus.
Chastain was able to finish 35th in the Ford EcoBoost 400 after the #15, #52 and #77 cars retired from the race early, each retirement moving Chastain up a position in the race running order. Radio communications between personnel from the teams made the early exits by the RWR and Spire and Premium teams for supposed mechanical issues seem questionable and motivated by a desire to better the position of the #27.
“Following the season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway, NASCAR assessed a penalty against Spire Motorsports for the actions of an individual who made a judgment call on behalf of our team,” a statement from Spire Motorsports read. "While the ultimate outcome of that decision can be interpreted from different perspectives, we regret any appearance of operating outside the spirit of the rule book. We accept the penalty and will not appeal. We’re proud of all we accomplished with this team in our first season and look forward to getting back to the business of racing at Daytona in February.”
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