Nascar was examining tires from the Auto Club 400 when they found that Ryan Newman’s tires were not within regulations. The tires had been tampered with, allowing air to leak out of them, thus gaining traction on the track. This is not a legal modification.

After further examination, Nascar handed penalties to the No. 31 team. The team lost 75 owner and driver points, $125,000, and crew chief Luke Lambert, team engineer Phillip Surgen, and team tire technician James Bender were all suspended for the next six races. They were also all placed on probation for the rest of the year.

Richard Childress Racing said they understood the penalties, but they were going to look at their appealing options. Newman’s tires were not the only tires examined, but they were the only ones found to be tampered with. The penalties given to the team were the P5 level, the highest level of penalty that can be given. Nascar has been examining tires for the past several weeks, but as of now only one team has tampered with the tires. Ironically, it was one of the teams that was the most outspoken against these kinds of infractions.