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NASCAR announced Tuesday that Ben Beshore, the crew chief for Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 18 team, has been suspended for the next four races after his car lost a wheel following a late pit stop at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The suspension also extends to pit crew members Derrell Edwards and Miachel Hicks.

Following a pit stop on Lap 230, the left front wheel on Kyle Busch's car was not installed properly, and the tire began to cling and rub against the left front fender. The wheel clung to Busch's car for half a lap before finally rolling away down the backstretch, coming to rest against the inside wall as Busch drove back to the pits to get another left front tire put on.

Busch ultimately recovered to finish third.

The suspension means that Busch will lose his crew chief for the rest of the 2022 season as he finishes his tenure with Joe Gibbs Racing before moving over to Richard Childress Racing. It also means that the No. 18 team will be without their leader once next season begins, as Beshore's suspension will extend through the 2023 Busch Clash at the L.A. Coliseum. Beshore will be eligible to return for the 2023 Daytona 500 with a new driver -- widely expected to be Ty Gibbs -- still to be determined.

Beshore's suspension was overshadowed on Tuesday's penalty report, which saw NASCAR choose to park Bubba Wallace for one race after he intentionally right-hooked Kyle Larson into the outside wall and into the path of oncoming traffic last week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Other items from the penalty report as are as follows:

  • Jeremy Clements Racing has been assessed an L1-level penalty for illegally modifying the flange fit composite body of their car. Crew chief Mark Setzer has been fined $25,000 and suspended for this weekend's NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Homestead-Miami, while Clements and his team have been docked 40 driver and owner points.
  • Chris Gayle, crew chief for Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 54 Xfinity team and driver Ty Gibbs, has been fined $5,000 for leaving a lug nut loose on one of Gibbs' wheels.
  • Andrew Abbott, crew chief for Young's Motorsports' No. 20 team in the Camping World Truck Series, has been reinstated and is now eligible to return for this weekend's Truck race at Homestead.