In post-race technical inspection at Talladega Superspeedway, NASCAR announced that Joey Logano and Ryan Preece have been disqualified for illegal rear spoiler modifications. Officials found unapproved shims in Preece’s #60 RFK Racing Ford and a loose bolt on Logano’s #22 Team Penske Ford, both violations of NASCAR’s strict body‑work rules.
Preece had finished 2nd and Logano 5th in Sunday’s race (Jack Link’s 500) before the inspection, but both were ruled out of their finishing positions. As a result, Preece was moved to 38th place and Logano to last (39th), each receiving just 1 championship point instead of the ~40 they had earned on track.
Inspection Findings
- Preece (#60 Ford): NASCAR tech teams discovered “unapproved shims” in the rear spoiler area. These thin spacer pieces are not part of the approved spoiler setup. By inserting a shim, crews can subtly change the spoiler’s angle or height – effectively tweaking aerodynamics for extra downforce or stability. Any shim not sanctioned by NASCAR is a clear violation.
- Logano (#22 Ford): Inspection flagged one of the spoiler’s mounting bolts as loose. Team Penske later confirmed that “one of the 18 bolts on the surface of the spoiler that connect to the base was found to be loose”. NASCAR’s rulebook (Section 14.1.P) explicitly requires that “all fasteners must be securely fastened at all times during an Event”, so even a single loose bolt causes a penalty. In NASCAR’s view, both infractions – the extra shim on Preece’s spoiler and the loose bolt on Logano’s – fell outside the allowed specifications.
How Spoilers and Shims Affect Performance
A NASCAR rear spoiler is a small wing‑like panel mounted on the decklid. Its job is to redirect high-speed airflow, generating downforce that pushes the car’s rear tires into the track. More downforce means more tire grip and stability in the draft, which helps through the corners and in traffic. (The tradeoff is extra aerodynamic drag: a bigger spoiler angle slows the car on the straights) Teams adjust spoiler angle carefully: as one aerodynamics guide notes, a larger “angle of attack” on the spoiler produces more downforce (and more drag).
A shim on the spoiler is simply a very thin spacer placed in the mounting stack to tweak that angle or the spoiler’s height by fractions of an inch. In practice, adding a shim can tilt the spoiler for a small boost in rear downforce – a potential advantage at superspeedways like Talladega, where NASCAR cars run in tight packs and depend on aero balance.
Even a tiny increase in downforce can help a car stay hooked to the track when hit by turbulent air in a draft. Conversely, it also adds drag on the straight. NASCAR’s rules tightly control the spoiler assembly to prevent teams from gaining unfair aero advantages. Any unapproved shim or unauthorized bracket is illegal, because it alters the intended spoiler geometry.
Pushing the Technical Limits
NASCAR’s modern rulebook is extremely precise, and teams are always looking for any legal edge within those rules. At restrictor-plate tracks like Talladega, aerodynamic tweaks are magnified: a more aggressive spoiler setup can give a car better rear grip in the draft, which can be worth a few car‐lengths. That incentive leads crews to experiment with everything from suspension parts to tiny body adjustments.
In this case, it appears Preece’s team was trying to fix a pre-race spoiler angle issue (as they later admitted) and inadvertently added an extra shim. Likewise, Logano’s crew may have tightened or replaced a spoiler bolt that came loose during the race. NASCAR inspects every detail after the race, so even small deviations trigger penalties. The precedent is clear: under the current inspection regime, post-race disqualification will follow any deviation from approved hardware or setup, no matter how minor it seems.
Penalties and Aftermath
The penalties were immediate and severe. Both drivers were disqualified from the Talladega results:
- Results voided: Preece was scored 38th in the 39-car field and Logano 39th.
- Points lost: Each ends up with just 1 point from Talladega. This erases roughly a 40-point day for each driver, severely affecting their championship standings.
- Team statements: Team Penske and RFK Racing both accepted NASCAR’s ruling without appeal. Penske noted the loose bolt was “not intentional” and happened during the event. RFK Racing said the shim issue stemmed from an “unintentional adjustment” to correct the spoiler angle, which “did not provide a competitive advantage” but nonetheless “did not meet the approved compliance method”.
NASCAR also announced that additional cars from Talladega would be sent to its Research & Development Center for thorough checks, highlighting how stringent post-race tech inspection has become.
Implications Moving Forward
For Logano and Preece, the immediate impact is lost points and momentum. Both drivers drop in the standings and must now focus on gaining back ground in the upcoming races. More broadly, the incident is a reminder of NASCAR’s iron-clad enforcement of technical rules. “Grey areas” can bring big trouble: even a shim small enough to fool the eye was caught by NASCAR’s scanners. Teams will almost certainly double‑check their spoiler assemblies going forward. Fans can expect NASCAR to continue policing these details closely; in the Cup Series, winning on the track is only part of the battle – every nut, bolt, and shim must be exactly within spec.
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