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Brad Keselowski Comes Clean on RFK Racing’s Decision to Repeal NASCAR’s Chris Buescher Penalty

Published 03/10/2024, 11:49 AM EDT

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The Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway did not go well for Chris Buescher. Unluckily, the #17 Ford Mustang of RFK Racing experienced a wheel coming off during the race’s 27th lap. It caused a wreck and resulted in Buescher finishing as a DNF. On top of that, NASCAR immediately decided to impose a two-race suspension penalty on the pit crew members Jakob Prall (Front tire changer) and Nicholas Patterson (Jackman). However, the story did not end there as RFK Racing countered NASCAR’s decision and went for an appeal to overturn their penalty. Talking about the same, Buescher’s teammate and RFK co-owner Brad Keselowski recently opened up on the issue explaining his team’s stance to repeal the decision.

The suspension rule by NASCAR leads to more issues, thinks Brad Keselowski

The former NASCAR Championship winner opened up to reporter motorsports journalist Bob Pockrass in an interview and expressed his displeasure with the unfortunate series of incidents. RFK’s legendary No.6 driver pointed out that these suspensions create a bigger problem ahead of the next race. As a result, they have to bring in some other pit crew members without adequate field experience. “You’d like to have as much time as possible to bring somebody up, to make sure you don’t have the same problem again. The funny part about the rule is that it leads to more issues,” said Bad Brad.

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Keselowski also explained how it is not possible for the teams participating in the Cup Series to have a reserve pit crews for every driver. They are not financially booming to do that. He added, “By the nature of how the race teams are, we do not carry depth chart of people. I wish we could carry, but it’s expensive.” Bringing in new members cause a different nature of problem altogether, according to Keselowski.

Chris Buescher Caught Completely Off-Guard With an Uncharacteristic End to His Las Vegas Dream

It is expected that it would require time for them to cope up with the rules and regulations that set forth by NASCAR. All these can create a bigger mishap in the next race. Probably a more fatal wreck or an improvised lethal suspension, an event that nobody is looking forward to.

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NASCAR accepts RFK’s appeal to defer the suspensions

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Brad Keselowski and Co. finally heaved a sigh of relief as NASCAR decided to defer the suspension penalty on Prall and Patterson. RFK Racing would be delighted to have the penalty lifted in an important turn in the Cup Series. NASCAR has been quite lenient on suspensions, and eased on penalties since the introduction of Next Gen cars last season. We get to see less severe penalties if a car’s wheel detaches during the competition.

Earlier, it used to be an automatic four race ban for the pit crews and the crew chief. The new rule on the other hand, focuses on where the wheel gets detached. If the wheel comes off while a car is on pit road under the yellow flag, the driver will restart the race at the tail end of the field. Whereas, if it comes off while a car is on pit road under green flag conditions, the driver must serve a pass-through penalty. And finally, it comes off while beyond pit road, it will be a two-lap penalty for the team and a two-race suspension for two crew members.

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NASCAR Accepts Brad Keselowski and Co.’s Plea to Axe Chris Buescher’s Two-Race Pit Crew Suspension

The Cup Series resumes at the famous Phoenix Raceway this weekend. Chris Buescher, who had an impressive last season is yet to display glimpse of that performance in this season. Good for him that his full crew team back in action. The regret of losing out in the Las Vegas race would work as an extra source of motivation for him.

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Written by:

Mamata Mukherjee

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Mamata Mukherjee is a NASCAR Writer at EssentiallySports. Combining her love for writing and motorsports she has created some interesting and in-depth stories on drivers like Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Joining ES with 3 years of experience in the field of writing, Mamata feels right at home in her role as a NASCAR Journalist.
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Edited by:

Ariva Debnath