Todd Berrier will call strategy for Kyle Busch at Dover in place of Adam Stevens

In the absence of suspended crew chief Adam Stevens, Joe Gibbs Racing will use a committee approach for Kyle Busch’s No. 18 Toyota this weekend at Dover International Speedway.

Former Sprint Cup crew chief Todd Berrier, who is JGR’s director of inspections, will call race strategy for Busch during Sunday’s race at Dover.

The team’s engineers will run Busch’s team during practices and qualifying Friday and Saturday.

Furniture Row Racing employed a similar setup for Martin Truex Jr.’s car at Phoenix International Raceway two months ago with Berrier handling race-day strategy in the absence of suspended crew chief Cole Pearn.

Stevens and front tire changer Josh Leslie were suspended for one race Wednesday after a violation of NASCAR’s revised lug nut rule was discovered in postrace inspection of Busch’s winning car from last Saturday at Kansas Speedway.

JGR hasn’t confirmed who will replace Leslie at Dover.

Sprint Fan Vote leaders for All-Star Race are Blaney, DiBenedetto, Elliott, Larson and Patrick

If you haven’t cast your ballot in the Sprint Fan Vote for next week’s Sprint All-Star Race, time is running out.

Fans have until 5 p.m. ET on May 20 to make their choice on either the NASCAR Mobile App or at www.nascar.com/SprintFanVote.

Results will be announced shortly after that in victory lane at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

In addition, votes shared on Facebook or Twitter get double the value.

Sprint officials announced the top five vote-getters to date – out of a field of 30 drivers – but have not revealed who’s leading.

Rather, the top five have been revealed solely in alphabetical order, not by the numbers of votes that they’ve received thus far.

The top five vote-getters thus far: Ryan Blaney, Matt DiBenedetto, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson and Danica Patrick.

Patrick won the Sprint Fan Vote in both 2013 and 2015, becoming the first two-time winner in the event’s history. She would make further history if she wins the Vote again this year.

Blaney and Elliott are currently leading in Sunoco Rookie of the Year competition.

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Joe Gibbs Racing won’t appeal suspensions of Kyle Busch’s crew chief, front tire changer

Joe Gibbs Racing won’t appeal the suspensions of crew chief Adam Stevens and front tire changer Josh Leslie after NASCAR penalized them for improperly installed lug nuts.

The infraction was found after Busch’s victory Saturday night at Kansas Speedway, and NASCAR meted out punishment Wednesday that will keep Stevens and Leslie sidelined this weekend at Dover International Speedway.

In a statement released early Wednesday evening, Joe Gibbs Racing said:
Joe Gibbs Racing announces today it will not appeal the penalty issued by NASCAR earlier this afternoon to its No. 18 team.

The 18 team utilized unaltered stock lug nuts during Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway and each wheel had all five lug nuts attached to the wheel at the conclusion of the race.  The team does acknowledge that not all lug nuts were tightened to the wheel.

NASCAR America: Ricky Rudd helps Richard Childress unveil throwback paint schemes

Richard Childress Racing unveiled the Southern 500 paint schemes Wednesday for Ryan Newman and Austin Dillon.

During the unveiling in Welcome, North Carolina, NBC Sports’ Marty Snider spoke with team owner Richard Childress and retired veteran Ricky Rudd, who scored RCR’s first Sprint Cup victory on June 5, 1983 at Riverside International Raceway in a No. 3 Chevrolet sponsored by Piedmont Airlines.

Dillon’s car for the Sept. 4 race at Darlington Raceway will salute Rudd’s car with the same paint scheme.

Rodney Childers on loose or missing lug nuts: ‘no way around it’

Shortly after the news that Kyle Busch‘s crew chief, Adam Stevens, was the first to be suspended for violating NASCAR’s revised lug nut rule, a peer chimed in on the rule.

Rodney Childers, crew chief for Kevin Harvick (the runner-up to Busch at Kansas Speedway), lamented the suspension of Stevens on Twitter. Childers said “there is no way around” a lug nut being loose or falling off at some point in a race.

NASCAR’s rule book states all five lug nuts on a wheel must be fastened in a “safe and secure manner at all times during the event.”

The revised lug nut rule was issued on April 25, prior to the race weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.

Stevens is the third Sprint Cup crew chief to be suspended this year. Cole Pearn, crew chief for Martin Truex Jr., was suspended for the race weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for a roof flap violation at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Nick Sandler, chew chief for Ricky Stenhouse Jr., was suspended for the Talladega race for an “improper steering wheel coupler” found during the prior race weekend at Richmond International Raceway.

Will Ryan Newman and Richard Childress be together next season?

WELCOME, N.C. — Ryan Newman and car owner Richard Childress both offered little on Newman’s future with Richard Childress Racing on Wednesday.

Newman signed a three-year contact to drive for the team beginning with the 2014 season. This is Newman’s third year with the organization.

No extension on Newman’s contract has been announced. With RCR at three cars and Ty Dillon, Childress’ grandson, on the path to move to Cup, the question is what RCR’s driver lineup will be next year if it doesn’t find sponsorship to expand to four cars.

“I’ll keep doing this as long as somebody wants me to do it and it’s fun doing it,’’ Newman said of his future.

Asked about next year’s driver lineup, Childress said: “We’re not looking at anything right now. We’ve got to focus and focus hard on trying to go out and win races. That’s our No. 1 focus right now.’’

Richard Childress Racing last won a Sprint Cup race in 2013.

Although Newman has yet to win at RCR, he finished second in the points in 2014 and was 11th last year. He enters this weekend’s race at Dover International Speedway 17th in the points.

He blew a tire late at Atlanta and finished 24th. A melted bead caused Newman’s tire to go down and he crashed at Phoenix, finishing 39th. He placed 28th at Talladega after being involved in a 21-car crash.

“Some of that is bad racing luck, some of that is self-inflicted,’’ Newman said.

Other than those finishes, Newman has finished between seventh and 18th this season.

Newman, who has 17 career Cup wins, is focused on snapping his 99-race winless streak.

“That’s what we’re working on is winning races,’’ he said. “It’s important for our sponsors that we get at least one win and hopefully can knock off two or three once we make it in the Chase and have a successful season again.’’

Will winning change if he is back at RCR?

“I have no idea,’’ Newman said.

NASCAR suspends Kyle Busch’s crew chief for violating revised lug nut rules

In the first punishment stemming from a revised rule requiring five lug nuts on every wheel, crew chief Adam Stevens, who guided Kyle Busch to a victory Saturday night at Kansas Speedway, was suspended for a race Wednesday

Stevens also was fined $20,000 and will miss this weekend’s events at Dover International Speedway along with front-tire changer Josh Leslie, who also was suspended for a Sprint Cup race. Stevens and Leslie were placed on probation through Dec. 31.

Their suspensions run through May 18, meaning both will return for the Sprint All-Star Race.

In a penalty report, NASCAR said the infractions committed by Stevens and Leslie fell under:

–Section 10.11.3.4 – WHEELS & TIRES: All tires, wheels, and all five lug nuts must be installed in a safe and secure manner at all times during the event.

–Section 12.5.3.4.1 g, o – P3 PENALTY VIOLATION EXAMPLES: Parts that are designed to fail their intended use; Parts or system configurations of importance not meeting the NASCAR rules, but not of a nature rising to a higher level penalty.

In an interview with NBC Sports, Sprint Cup director Richard Buck declined to say which of Busch’s wheels violated the rule or whether it had five lug nuts. Buck cited a potential appeal by Joe Gibbs Racing as the reason why he declined to elaborate.

There was no immediate word from JGR on whether the team would appeal Busch’s penalty.

NASCAR changed its policy on lug nuts before the May 1 race at Talladega Superspeedway, requiring that five lug nuts must be installed in a safe and secure manner. There were no problems found with lug nuts after the race at Talladega.

The revision of the rule occurred after Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle and others had criticized NASCAR’s decision to stop enforcing lug nut rules before last season when pit road officiating was revamped. Stewart was fined $35,000 for his comments.