Bubba Wallace and the No. 23 team of 23XI Racing will miss two of its pit crew members as they serve a suspension.
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Tire changer Adam Hartman and jackman Nathan Ricketts will miss this weekend's race at Sonoma Raceway and the following weekend at Chicagoland Speedway while serving a two-race suspension.
This follows the No. 23 Toyota losing a wheel in last weekend's street race on Naval Base Coronado. This is a safety violation and it falls under Sections 8.8.10.4 A&D: Tires and Wheels of the NASCAR Rule Book.
The lost wheel occurred during the opening stage of last weekend's race, which 23XI Racing's Corey Heim won. Wallace made a pit stop with three laps remaining in the stage so that he could gain track position after the caution. However, he immediately voiced concern over the radio about an issue with his wheel.
The No. 23 team told him that he had a loose wheel, so he attempted to return to pit road. He did not make it as the wheel disconnected from the Toyota Camry and rolled across the racing surface.
Wallace served a two-lap penalty on pit road. He then returned to the race and attempted to recover all of his lost positions. Cautions helped him get back on the lead lap, and then he began using the speed he showed earlier to get back into contention for the win in San Diego.
Wallace worked his way to second place in the closing laps, but he could not quite chase down Heim. He ultimately crossed the finish line in what was a career-best road course finish.
"It's just so many races this year had results with asterisk marks besides them," Wallace said after the race. "Like the what ifs, right? What if everything went okay?
"After every race, we do a debrief and we have to fill out, 'Was it a green race or was it not green?' Meaning, did everything go according to plan? And here's another 'No.'
"Hate it, hate it for my crew, because they are bad asses, and just one little mistake cost us. It'll cost us the next couple weeks. So I had to roll the sleeves up and go have some fun."
