All three Richard Childress Racing teams and all three Turner Motorsports teams had their bumper covers confiscated due to illegal modifications. According to NASCAR, the teams were found to be in violation of  Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4J (any determination by NASCAR officials that the race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules detailed in Section 20-A of the rule book).

They were also found to be in violation of Sections 20A-2.1E (streamlining of the contours of the car, beyond what is approved by the series director will not be permitted. Installation of air directional devices, underpans, baffles, shields or the like beneath the car or the car’s hood and fender area, front firewall, floor, rear firewall area, rear deck and quarter panel will not be permitted. If, in the judgment of NASCAR officials, any part or component of the car not previously approved by NASCAR has been installed or modified to enhance aerodynamic performance, will not be permitted. All cars must remain standard in appearance); and 20A-3.10A (front upper bumper cover must be from the respective OEM manufacturer and must be approved by NASCAR. The front lower bumper cover and rear bumper cover must be from an approved manufacturer and must be approved by NASCAR. Once approved, the front lower bumper covers may be used on all approved models. NASCAR officials may use bumper covers provided by the respective manufacturer as a guide in determining whether a competitor’s bumper cover conforms to the specifications of the NASCAR rule book. Unless otherwise authorized by the series director, cutting and reshaping of bumper covers will not be permitted.)

RCR crew chiefs Luke Lambert (No. 2 team and driver Elliott Sadler), Danny Stockman (No. 3 team and driver Austin Dillon), and Ernie Cope (No. 33 team and driver Kevin Harvick) have each been fined $10,000 and placed on NASCAR probation until the end of the calendar year.

Turner crew chiefs Trent Owens (No. 30 team and driver James Buescher), Jimmy Elledge (No. 31 team and driver Justin Allgaier), and Mike Shiplett (No. 38 team and driver Kasey Kahne) have also each been fined $10,000 and placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31.

Additionally, the teams’ respective car chiefs – Phil Gould (No. 2), Robert Strmiska (No. 3), and Paul Balmer (No. 33) for RCR; Shannon Rursch (No. 30), Ronald Hornaday III (No. 31), and Christopher Meyers (No. 38) for Turner – have likewise been placed on NASCAR probation until Dec. 31.

The violations were found on opening day.

None of the teams received points penalties.

Luke Lambert, who has been serving as interim crew chief for the No. 31, will assume a new position with RCR. Lambert became interim crew chief for Burton in July, when he replaced Todd Berrier.

Performance is at a stand-still for drivers like Burton, Biffle and Almendinger.  They have a handful of top 10 finishes between them this year and have been flying under the radar all season. Making a crew chief change is a perfect opportunity for these teams to get the improvements they have been looking for. 

All of these teams have the potential to finish well every week, they are just missing a certain spark to get to those finishes.  Hopefully these changes will provide that spark.

For Truex Jr’s team, I feel that communication is one of the major issues.  With only three top 10 finishes and many DNF’s this season, a change had to be made.  Earlier in the year, the team replaced their tire changers in hopes of improving performance.  Unfortunately, their luck never improved.  The No. 56 team now has Chad Johnson as crew chief, formally the lead engineer of Micheal Waltrip Racing.

This team has nothing to lose and everything to gain.  We know that Truex has the potential to win races, he just needs a strong team backing to get there.  I think this change will take time to settle in, but will eventually bring improvement to that MWR team.

Montoya seems to be the roller-coaster driver of this season.  He started off the year well and was as high as fourth in points.  However, in five races out of the last ten, he has finished 20th or worse and has now plummeted to 17th in points.  In my opinion, the crew chief is not the problem. 

We’ve seen Montoya lose his temper with other drivers and his own team countless times throughout the year.  I feel like his temper gets in the way of focusing on his job.  Maybe his new crew chief, Jim Pohlman, can keep the Colombian driver level-headed.  If not, I think Ganassi needs to address the situation and figure out a solution for Montoya.  He is a talented driver, he just needs to focus on his race, rather than focusing on who he’s going to box after the race.

In conclusion, I don’t think this will be the last crew chief changes of the season.  Drivers like, Brian Vickers and Jamie McMurray are used to running well, and aren’t having the finishes they need.  Possible crew chief changes?  I guess we’ll just have to keep watching as this season unfolds.

Team owner Richard Childress said:

Todd has been an important part of RCR’s success for many years. He is still employed and under contract and his role with RCR will be determined in the near future. … Luke will be the interim crew chief until further notice. He has a strong grasp of the job requirements and an established line of communication with Jeff (Burton) so we have every confidence that he will do a great job.

Lambert added:

I’m honored that Richard and Jeff have the confidence in me to lead the Cat Racing team. This is a talented group of guys who know what it takes and has been successful so there’s no reason to think we can’t be successful moving forward.

Burton and Berrier have struggled this season. Burton has no wins, no top 5s, and no top 10s thus far in the season, and he sits 25th in the Sprint Cup championship standings. He joins AJ Allmendinger, Greg Biffle, Juan Montoya, and Martin Truex Jr as drivers who have recently experienced crew chief changes.