Xfinity and Truck Series warning and penalty report

NASCAR has fined Camping World Truck Series driver Spencer Gallagher $5,000 following the series’ race at Michigan International Speedway for approaching the track surface after exiting his wrecked car.

Gallagher left his No. 23 truck after a Lap 76 incident with Christopher Bell, whose truck he approached. Gallagher said he was concerned for Bell’s safety.

NASCAR also issued a written warning to the No. 18 Xfinity series team of Joe Gibbs Racing during the race weekend at Road America.

The No. 18, which was driven by Owen Kelly, failed pre-race laser inspection twice and received its fourth warning. A team loses pit selection after a fourth warning. There was only one inspection period prior to qualifying before cars were impounded.

John Wes Townley issues apology for fight at Gateway; appreciates Tony Stewart’s support

John Wes Townley, who was fined $15,000by NASCAR for his fight with Spencer Gallagher last week at Gateway Motorsports Park, issued an apology Friday morning.

“I want to apologize to NASCAR and my fans,” Townley said in a statement. “That’s not the way I want to represent myself, Zaxby’s or Jive Communications. I’ll try my best to make sure it never happens again.

“I was amazed at the comments from so many drivers who were supportive, most notably Tony Stewart.”

After his Sonoma win, Stewart said: “I’m going to go to Zaxby’s and eat chicken all week just in support of John Wes. Hey, I’m all for it. I’m glad to see somebody had some emotion and actually did something with it. I’m going to live my life through him for this week.”

Townley was scheduled to compete in an Xfinity car this weekend at Daytona International Speedway, but the team withdrew earlier the week.

“Honestly, we went into this season with our sights sets on running strong in the Truck Series and ARCA,” he said. “We’ve always said that. And we, as a team, don’t need to overlook those goals.

“We were getting ready to pull guys off our Truck and ARCA teams to go run an Xfinity race in Daytona. I love racing at Daytona. I’ve won there twice in ARCA.

“But considering that we have a Truck race and an ARCA race next week (at Iowa Speedway), we felt it was better to pour our time and resources into getting ready for next week.”

NASCAR fines John Wes Townley, Spencer Gallagher for fight

NASCAR fined John Wes Townley $15,000 and Spencer Gallagher $12,500 for their fight last weekend during the Camping World Truck Series race at Gateway Motorsports Park.

NASCAR issued the fines for the physical altercation and for being on the track during a caution period. Both drivers also were placed on probation through Dec. 31.

They made contact earlier the race, causing Townley to hit the wall. They wrecked in the final laps after a restart. After both exited their trucks, they scuffled, wrestled and threw a few punches before walking away.

Gallagher issued a public apology this week to Townley for the incident earlier in the race and his involvement in the fight. Townley has not issued a comment on the matter.

Follow @gillesrobson

NASCAR executive on Townley-Gallagher fight: ‘Certainly not our best moment’

A NASCAR executive stated Monday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that “there will be repercussions” for the incident between John Wes Townley and Spencer Gallagher during Saturday night’s Camping World Truck Series race at Gateway Motorsports Park.

Townley and Gallagher had contact during the race that caused Townley’s truck to hit the wall. They both wrecked in the final laps. After exiting their vehicles, they soon began scuffling, tumbling to the track and throwing a few punches.

“We’ll look at the all the video feeds we have, we certainly talked to both drivers postrace,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer. “We’ll have our discussions. We’ll kind of have an evaluation and talk to everyone about where we stand from that. Certainly not our best moment, for sure, two passionate drivers. That’s part of things sometimes when emotions run high, but certainly don’t like to see that to occur when they’re especially on the racetrack.”

O’Donnell told “The Morning Drive” that a key issue is what led to the final accident between them.

“We certainly like to see drivers who are going to express their emotions be outside of a race car, that’s where we really, really jump in and react when it’s drivers using their race cars beyond what is normal for a race,” O’Donnell said. “We’re going to react heavily when we have to. There will still be repercussions for sure. We want to make sure drivers, if they’re going to do anything, are outside of their car but certainly don’t encourage what happened at Gateway.”

Tony Stewart, who won Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Sonoma Raceway, said he was looking forward to how NASCAR will react to the Townley-Gallagher incident.

“I can’t wait for (the penalty announcement) because I told Mike Helton I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time to see how much you get fined for a fight,” Stewart said, referring to the NASCAR vice chairman. “He laughed at me. I said, ‘Well, look at it this way, I’ve got a lot of scores to settle with people and I’ve only got six months to do it.’ I’ve just got to figure out if it’s economically feasible to do it, so I’m waiting to see what ‑‑ I’ll be the one by 5 p.m. on Tuesday reading every social media thing out there.

“But I’m going to go to (Townley’s sponsor) Zaxby’s and eat chicken all week just in support of John Wes. Hey, I’m all for it. I’m glad to see somebody had some emotion and actually did something with it. I’m going to live my life through him for this week.”

Team Penske Xfinity team receives P2 penalty, loses 10 owner points

NASCAR issued a P2 penalty to Team Penske’s No. 22 Xfinity team for failing post-race laser inspection measurements last weekend at Michigan International Speedway.

NASCAR docked the team 10 owners points and fined crew chief Brian Wilson $7,500.Joey Logano finished sixth in Saturday’s race. The No. 22 team has yet to win a race in 2016 through 13 races. This is the latest it has not won a race since Brad Keselowski won the 18th race of the 2011 season at Kentucky Speedway.

In the Camping World Truck Series, NASCAR gave out its first punishment for a violation of its new lug nut rule outside of the Sprint Cup Series.

Scott Zipadelli, crew chief on Red Horse Racing’s No. 11 Truck, was suspended one race and put on probation through the end of the calendar year for violating the rule.

One written warning was given to the No. 23 team of Spencer Gallagher for truck trailing arm U-bolts and U-bolt mounting saddles not conforming to specified rule book drawings. It is the second warning for Gallagher’s team. If a team receives four written warnings, it will lose pit selection for one race.

John Wes Townley leads final Truck practice in Texas

FORT WORTH – The final Camping World Truck Series practice for the Rattlesnake 400 at Texas Motor Speedway was led by John Wes Townley.

While recording 28 laps in the 90-minute session, Townley put up a top speed of 179.420 mph. William Byron followed Townley at 178.950 mph. The rookie also navigated the 1.5-mile track with a session-high 51 laps.

The top five was filled out by Spencer Gallagher, Ben Rhodes, and Matt Crafton. Crafton, who has won the past two June races at Texas, was fastest in the first practice session.

Crafton recorded the best 10-lap average at 175.797 mph.

William Byron leads way in Camping World Truck practice at Charlotte

Rain limited the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series to one practice instead of three Thursday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

William Byron had the fastest lap at 184.168 mph. He was followed by Spencer Gallagher (183.955 mph), Johnny Sauter (183.318), Ben Kennedy (183.318) and Kyle Busch (183.194).

Timmy Hill reported he cut a right front tire and stated in a tweet that the “damage is pretty bad.” He was 34th on the speed chart among 36 drivers.

Dover win gives Matt Crafton lead in Truck point standings

Winning the Camping World Truck Series’ race at Dover International Speedway launched Matt Crafton five spots to the top of the point standings.

Crafton leads Timothy Peters by two points after five races this season.

Filling out the top five is Daniel Hemric, Ryan Truex and Spencer Gallagher.