NASCAR official issues Bubba Wallace penalty verdict

NASCAR has laid out why Bubba Wallace's No. 23 team didn't receive as harsh a penalty as they previously may have done when his wheel came off at Richmond this weekend.

Wallace's wheel came loose before he'd left pit road, and he managed to scoot into the No. 19 team's empty pit box, where the fellow Toyota team got his car jacked up and the wheel reattached.

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NASCAR handed down a pass-thru penalty for the incident, a significantly better outcome than the standard two-lap penalty for a wheel coming off on track after being improperly fitted.

Wallace's race was ruined by the incident in any case, but another key part of the punishment could have impacted him into the playoffs – with a two-race suspension typical for the offending jack man and tire changer.

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Moran explains NASCAR rule change

As Cup Series managing director Brad Moran explained this week though, the rules have been changed to be more lenient on teams who managed to get their mistakes mopped up before re-entering the race track.

"We changed that rule earlier this year as well," he said. "The last thing we want is a wheel coming off on the race track. Obviously, the penalties ramp up when you leave pit road and a wheel falls off.”

Moran continued: “But truthfully, really what it is, it's just pitting out of the box is how we look at it. We do not want tires out on the race track, so if it can be avoided, we certainly would like to see that.

"So, the rule was set that if you happen to lose a tire and you can get it changed in a teammate's box, that's fair game before you leave and you will be penalized for pitting out of the box, which will be a flag status penalty. So to the tail of the field if it was a yellow flag and obviously a pass-through if it was under green.”

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