Andretti Autosport rookie Devlin DeFrancesco has been given a six-place grid penalty for this weekend’s race in Long Beach for the move that led to his crash at Texas three weeks ago.
DeFrancesco was ruled to be primarily responsible for the crash that took him as well as two others out of the race on lap 128, falling foul of the avoidable contact regulation.
Helio Castroneves and Graham Rahal were both not happy with the young driver at the time, both sharing the sentiment that the last driver to enter into a three-wide situation has the obligation to back out when space runs out.
The penalized move was not the only move that raised people’s eyebrows throughout the weekend, as the 22-year-old driver was a bit too ambitious for the high speed oval.
The penalty comes at a time when Andretti Autosport has been struggling to keep pace with Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing through the early part of the season.
Long Beach has been a good track for the team, however, and there is a good chance DeFrancesco will be able to overcome his penalty before the 85 laps are completed.
The Grand Prix of Long Beach takes place on Sunday, just after noon local time, 3:00 PM Eastern
