While he hasn't visited victory lane since Pocono in June, Kyle Busch has managed to move on through each of the first two rounds of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs to give himself a berth in the Round of 8 and a chance at a third Cup Championship. But if he's going to advance to the Championship 4 this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, he's going to have to do so without his usual crew chief.
On Tuesday, NASCAR released its post-race penalty report from last weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval, announcing that Kyle Busch's crew chief Ben Beshore has been suspended for the next race at Texas due to a lug nut infraction found in post-race technical inspection. Beshore was penalized under Sections 10.9.10.4 of the NASCAR rule book (Lug nut(s) not properly installed), earning him a one-race suspension and a $20,000 fine.
According to Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports, Busch's interim crew chief for this weekend will be Seth Chavka, who normally serves as a race engineer for the No. 18 team.
Busch, who earned two Top 5 finishes in the Round of 12 to allow him to advance to the Round of 8, is the defending champion of this weekend's race at Texas Motor Speedway. Last year, Busch and his team used fuel strategy to lead the final 24 laps of the race, picking up his first and only win of 2020 after being eliminated from the playoffs in the Round of 12. That win was Busch's last with crew chief Adam Stevens, who now serves in the same role with Christopher Bell's No. 20 team.
In addition to Beshore, two other crew chiefs were hit with lug nut penalties following the Roval: Chris Gabehart (Denny Hamlin) and Scott Graves (Chris Buescher) were both fined $10,000 for lug nuts that were not properly installed.
