Additional penalties could come for Benny Gordon after fuel irregularity
BRISTOL, Tenn. – NASCAR Nationwide Series Director Joe Balash said there could be more penalties coming for North South Motorsports’ Benny Gordon after his fuel did not meet NASCAR specifications following his qualifying lap Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Gordon’s qualifying time was disallowed and because he did not have one of the guaranteed positions based on top-30 owners points from last year, Gordon did not compete in the race.
Would he have been disqualified from the event if he had a guaranteed spot?
“We probably would have had deeper discussions about that type of a penalty,” Balash said Sunday. “We didn’t have any of those conversations because they weren’t [guaranteed].”
Balash chose his words carefully when talking about what happened and whether it was possible that there were remnants of another fuel from other series that Gordon competes in. The Bristol event would have been Gordon’s debut.
“It’s hard to determine whether it was [a little bit left over from another series] or whether it was fuel that was added that didn’t come from the event or whether it was an additive that was added to the fuel,” Balash said. “Unfortunately when we took the fuel sample from that car, it didn’t meet the specifications of the Sunoco fuel that we provide to the teams at every event. There were multiple things that were different from the fuel. Anytime it deviates in any area, it’s an issue with us.”
