Custer was fined $100,000 and docked 50 driver and owner points and his crew chief on the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, Mike Shiplett, was also fined $100,000 and indefinitely suspended from NASCAR competition.
The team was penalized under Sections 4.3.A; 4.4.C & 5.5 of the NASCAR Rule Book (Member Code of Conduct/Performance Obligation). Section 5.5 references the ‘100-percent rule’ NASCAR implemented after the 2013 “Spingate” scandal involving Michael Waltrip Racing at Richmond (Va.) Raceway.
Miller, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition, said brake, steering, and audio transmissions from No. 41 car were used to evaluate Custer’s actions on the final lap of Sunday’s playoff race at the Charlotte Roval.
Custer suddenly slowed dramatically entering the backstretch chicane – and was subsequently hit by Austin Dillon – which appeared to allow his teammate to Chase Briscoe gain positions on the track.
Briscoe ultimately was the last of eight drivers to qualify for the semifinal round of the playoffs, edging reigning series champion Kyle Larson by two points. Briscoe, however, was already in position to secure the final spot prior to the incident.
NASCAR’s evidence
“The No. 41 slowed abruptly over there on the back straightaway, blocking (Dillon) and allowing a mechanism that (Briscoe) went by the No. 41 and (Dillon),” Miller said.
Miller said at that time Shiplett came over Custer’s radio and told his driver, “I think you’ve got a flat, check up, check up.”
“He couldn’t see the car to tell if it had a flat,” Miller said of Shiplett. “Nothing contradicted that was done deliberately. Blatantly pulling over and changing the finishing order on the last lap is what makes it over the top, and especially with the instructions from the pit box.
“Everything is intensified in these three-race elimination rounds. So, everything is ramped up. The pressure is ramped up on the teams, the pressure is ramped up on NASCAR to do a good job.
“These sort of things can’t be tolerated at any time but are certainly magnified in an elimination round of the playoffs.”
No suspension for Custer
Miller said a suspension of Custer was “a topic of discussion.”
“We landed on not suspending the driver. Really, probably a big reason for that is super-flagrant things that eliminated other competitors or actions that were just completely unacceptable – not that this one was acceptable – but dangerous in nature are really the only things that we’ve in the past sat a driver down for,” he said. “So, we did consider that and we opted not to because of the past precedent.”
Miller said NASCAR did not consider removing Briscoe from the playoffs in part because after a review of his radio transmissions no one ever told him his teammates would help or assist in any way.
“Not a word during the race about teammates or anything from the No. 14 car throughout the race,” Miller said.