Two RFK Racing crew members suspended for Las Vegas loose wheel

As expected, NASCAR has issued penalties to Chris Buescher's No. 17 RFK Racing team for losing a wheel during last weekend's NASCAR Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

On lap 27 of the 267-lap race, Buescher crashed into the Turn 1 wall after losing the right-front wheel. The impact required a red flag to repair the wall.

The wheel came off in pieces, and Buescher explained later that he believed something in the suspension ended up cutting the wheel in half.

As is the norm when a team loses a wheel on track, which is considered a safety vioaltion, NASCAR has suspended two RFK Racing crew members (Nicholas Patterson and Jakob Prall) for the next two points-paying events. They will miss this weekend's race at Phoenix Raceway, as well as the race at Bristol Motor Speedway the following week.

Additional penalties this week include a pair of $5,000 fines in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. One for Phillip Bell, crew chief of the No. 9 JR Motorsports entry, as well Andrew Abbott, crew chief for the No. 42 Young's Motorsports entry. Both were because of loose lug nuts.

A $2,500 was issued toJoe Shear Jr. for a loose lug nut as well, crew chief for the No. 98 ThorSport Racing entry in the NASCAR Truck Series.

There were no other penalties.