Keselowski’s No. 6 Ford Mustang was found to have made modifications to parts supplied from a NASCAR vendor. The team was one of two chosen (the other being the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet) to have their cars taken back to the NASCAR R&D Center for a full teardown following the race at Atlanta.
NASCAR stated before the season that any modifications to supplied parts on the Next Gen cars would result in severe penalties.
This L2-level penalty will leave Keselowski/RFK docked 100 driver and owner points, as well as ten playoff bonus points.
Crew chief Matt McCall has been fined $100,000 and suspended for the next four points-paying races.
Keselowski remains eligible for the playoffs, but the penalty has dropped him from 16th in the standings down to 35th. He has scored 122 points this season, so the penalty leaves him with just 22 after five races.
Although this is no doubt a huge hit for the team, this is not the most severe version of an L2 penalty. Per the guidelines released just prior to the start of the 2022 season, this is what an L2 penalty entails and what kind of penalties could come as a result:
Level 2 Penalty
Level 2 (L2) penalties may include but are not limited to:
- Modifications to Next Gen single source vendor supplied parts and/or assemblies not rising to an L3 penalty.
- Failure to meet the engine seal requirements.
- Major external engine parts, not part of the long block, that differ from what is required by the rules.
- Anything that alters or affects the engine control system wiring harness and/or the certified engine control system wiring sub-harnesses.
- Onboard electronics not approved in advance by NASCAR.
- Violation of the Vehicle Testing Policy not rising to a higher Level.
Penalty options:
- Loss of 75-120 points
- Loss of 10-25 playoff points
- 4-6 race suspension for team members
- 1-2 team event roster positions subject to suspension
- $100,000 – $250,000 fine