Cole Custer was docked 50 points and fined $100,000 for his actions to deliberately block drivers in the race at the Charlotte Roval.
Custer’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Chase Briscoe owe his qualification for the Round of 8 to Custer as the driver blocked Erik Jones and Austin Dillon. In doing that, Custer made sure that Briscoe would not finish two positions lower.
And as he and Kyle Larson were tied for the final spot in the third round on the last lap, that move meant Briscoe earned extra points and finished ahead of the defending champion to go into the Round of 8.
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It was not only Custer that was penalized but his crew too. Mike Shiplett was suspended indefinitely and fined $100,000. And it is not the end of it either as NASCAR will investigate Custer’s actions and review team communications with his crew.
It is the second time that an SHR driver is penalized in the last week. For illegal car modifications, Kevin Harvick was docked 100 points and his No. 4 team was fined $100,000.
The penalty Custer got is bigger than the one William Byron got for spinning Denny Hamlin t Texas on Sept. 25. NASCAR docked 25 points but then after an appeal reinstated the points but increased the fine. Getting back the points helped Byron to go to the next round of playoffs.
As for Custer, the penalty won’t affect him so much as he is out of the playoffs. He dropped to 27th place from 25th.