TC Daily Pit Stop: Erik Jones Latest to Recieve NASCAR Sanctions; Almirola Says No Timetable on 2024 Plans; NASCAR Heading Back to Canada? Equipment Stolen in Chicago

TC Daily Pit Stop: Thursday, June 8th, 2023

Toby Christie

Jun 8, 2023

Photo Credit: Andrew Coppley / HHP for Chevy Racing

NASCAR has issued yet another post-race penalty following a trip to the NASCAR R&D Center. On Wednesday, NASCAR issued an L1-level penalty to the No. 43 LEGACY MOTOR CLUB race team and its driver Erik Jones after the No. 43 car was found to have a modified greenhouse area following Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 at Gateway.

NASCAR has docked the No. 43 team and Jones 60 owner and driver points, they have also deducted five Playoff points from both. Crew chief Dave Elenz has been fined $75,000 for the infraction and has been issued a two-race suspension.

Joey Cohen will serve as interim crew chief for the No. 43 team, and the team is still deciding whether it wants to appeal the penalties.

Erik Jones Takes Home Emotional Money in The Bank 150 Win at Berlin Raceway

Photo Credit: Will Bellamy, Racing America

While the day started off with an L1-level penalty from NASCAR, Erik Jones ended Wednesday with an emotional victory in the Money in the Bank 150 at Berlin Raceway, a track two hours West of his hometown of Byron, Michigan.

Jones, driving his own No. 4 Late Model, got around Kyle Crump for the race lead on the final restart of the race with 30 laps to go, and he never looked back. The win for Jones came on the anniversary of his father’s passing in 2016.

“This was [emotional] for a lot of reasons. It’s been a long time since I won a race here, and the last one I won was an emotional one, lost my Dad that week and this was the day in 2016 that he actually passed away, so it’s a tough day always,” Jones told FloRacing. “But, it felt good to be at the track, felt good to be racing, and I bet he has to be smiling right now, so that’s pretty cool.”

Almirola Has No Timetable on 2024 Decision, Calls Situation “Fluid”

Photo Credit: Nigel Kinrade, NKP, Courtesy of Ford Performance

One of the biggest silly season dominoes remains whether Aric Almirola will return for another season in the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang in 2024. As it stands, Almirola isn’t sure just yet.

In a Tuesday call with the media, Almirola said, “I think it’s still very fluid,” and that he doesn’t have a timetable to make his decision.

Almirola says that his decision to return will ultimately be decided by him determining if he’s having fun, and enjoying the race car, while also being able to continue being a great father and husband at home.

Report: NASCAR in Discussions to Bring Cup Series to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve as Soon as 2024

Photo Credit: Tom Pennington, Getty Images

According to a report from Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal, NASCAR is having discussions on bringing the sport back to Canada. After a decade-long absence from Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, NASCAR could return to the 2.71-mile road course in Montreal.

According to Stern’s report, there is a possibility that NASCAR brings the NASCAR Cup Series to the track for the first time ever as early as next season.

Report: Two Cart Vehicles Stolen from Worksite for NASCAR’s Chicago Street Race

We are a few weeks away from the first-ever Street Race in NASCAR Cup Series history, and according to FOX 32 Chicago, some equipment was stolen from the work site, where supplies and machines to turn the downtown Chicago area into a street course are being stored.

According to the report, a witness told Chicago-area police that at 7:00 AM an unidentified offender broke into the lot in the 500 block of South Columbus, where they stole a pair of cart vehicles.

TobyChristie.com has reached out to representatives for NASCAR to obtain a comment or statement about the stolen vehicles, but no response has been given at this time.