Erik Jones and No. 43 Legacy MC team penalized by NASCAR

NASCAR penalized LMC after finding modifications made to the greenhouse of the car.

The L1-level penalty has resulted in the loss of 60 driver and owner points, dropping Jones from 26th to 30th in the regular season championship standings. He was 68 points outside of the playoffs, now falling to 128 points adrift of the cut line.

They've also been assessed the loss of five playoff points. 

Additionally, crew chief Dave Elenz has been fined $75,000 and suspended for the next two points-paying races.

Jones finished 18th at Gateway last weekend. It's unclear at this time of the organization intends to appeal, releasing the following statement:

"Legacy Motor Club acknowledges the L1 penalty issued today following the NASCAR R&D center inspection of the No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 after the race event at World Wide Technology Raceway. The team will observe the two-race suspension for crew chief Dave Elenz as Joey Cohen, VP, Race Operations will serve as the interim crew chief for Erik Jones and the No. 43 team at Sonoma Raceway.

“We have been diligently working with NASCAR regarding the penalty and are working internally to determine the course of action in response. We will announce that decision within the timeframe determined by the NASCAR Rule Book."

Legacy MC are far from the first Cup team penalized this year. Hendrick Motorsports (No. 5; No. 9; No. 24 (twice); No. 48 (twice)), Kaulig Racing (No. 31), Richard Childress Racing (No. 3), Stewart-Haas Racing (No. 14), and 23XI Racing (No. 45) have all been penalized for technical violations during the 2023 season.

This week, NASCAR also penalized the Young’s Motorsports No. 02 Truck team and driver Chris Hacker for a window net violation. They have docked 25 driver and owner points, while crew chief Andrew Abbott was fined $5,000.