LEBANON, Tenn. — Brad Keselowski said two recent penalties against RFK Racing teams were not related to pushing the limits but “not having enough regard to understand the rule book and all of its complexities.”
Keselowski said that the organization has done some restructuring to prevent the matters from happening again.
Two penalties in the last five weeks have cost RFK Racing teams a combined 69 points and five playoff points. That’s significant for teams trying to remain in a playoff spot with half of the regular season remaining.
Ryan Preece’s second-place finish at Talladega in late April was disallowed for failing post-race inspection due to a spoiler violation. NASCAR stated that Preece’s car had three shims instead of the required two. The penalty cost Preece 39 points.
Two weeks later, NASCAR penalized Chris Buescher’s team when it discovered an infraction with the front bumper cover at the R&D Center after the Kansas race. NASCAR docked Buescher and the team 60 points and five playoff points each for. An appeal this week reduced the point penalty to 30. The penalty of five playoff points was kept intact.
“The situations at hand were not items I would call ‘pushing too much’ as much as I would call just not having enough regard to understanding the rule book and all of its complexities,” Keselowski said in response to a question from NBC Sports.
“Ultimately, that burden falls on us and we have had those conversations internally. I think everyone knows what is expected of them moving forward.”
Asked how RFK Racing will keep up with what Keselowski stated are the complexities of the rule book, he said:
“The rules are extremely complex. It is a bit like an IRS tax code. You have to read this paper and you have to reference this paper, to reference this paper to reference this paper. When you’re head down and digging, running 38 weeks a year, oversights are going to happen. From our perspective, that’s not an excuse.
“I can’t really speak to other teams and how they handle it. I can speak to ours and we made a small restructuring this week to be better prepared and more mindful of what it takes to be in compliance. We just changed a few roles and responsibilities.”
Preece holds the final playoff spot entering Sunday’s race at Nashville Superspeedway. Buescher is the first driver outside a playoff spot. He trails Preece by six points.
