NASCAR displays illegal Xfinity Series part from Rockingham disqualification

Matt Weaver

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NASCAR displays illegal Xfinity Series part from Rockingham disqualification image

As has once again become NASCAR policy following a disqualification or major penalty, the rear end housing that resulted in Jesse Love and the Richard Childress Racing No. 2 team being stripped of the Xfinity Series victory at Rockigham Speedway was displayed to the media a week later in the name of transparency.

This used to be commonplace in the 90s and 2000s but NASCAR got away from this policy before bringing it back in 2022 after calls for greater transparency from the industry at large.

So what happened specifically to disqualify Love at ‘The Rock?’ FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass was in attendance on Friday at Talladega was what the industry lightheartedly calls ‘Show and Tell.’

“This is the left-side truck arm, the rearend housing, the U-bolt saddle, and then the lowering block right here, and then the U-bolt that holds this whole assembly together,” Peterson said. “So, the rule that was violated was that all the mating surfaces between the U-bolt saddle and the truck trailing arm have to be in contact with each other at all times.”

While Peterson would not get into speculation over the intent of Richard Childress Racing and crew chief Danny Stockman leaving the mating sections loose, doing so allows the rear end to flex and generate skew.

That helps the car make aerodynamic grip and rotate through the corners.

Thus, Sammy Smith of JR Motorsports was declared the winner of the race, a result that stands as decided last weekend.

Matt Weaver

Matt Weaver is a former dirt racer turned motorsports journalist. He can typically be found perched on a concrete wall at a local short track on Saturday nights and within world-class media centers on Sunday afternoons. There isn’t any kind of racing he hasn’t covered over the past decade. He drives a 2003 Chevrolet Silverado with over 510,000 miles on it. Despite carrying him to racing trips across both coasts and two countries, it hasn’t died yet.