Mayfield’s Crew Chief Hit With $25,000 Fine

Jeremy Mayfield did a celebration dance atop his Ford Taurus in Victory Lane after Sunday’s Winston Cup victory at California Speedway, but nobody on his team was dancing Thursday, notably crew chief Peter Sospenzo.

Sospenzo, already reeling from a five-week suspension for an earlier infraction, was docked $25,000 by NASCAR because the height of Mayfield’s car did not meet NASCAR specifications after the NAPA Auto Parts 500.

NASCAR also fined Kevin Hamlin, crew chief for Dale Earnhardt’s Chevrolet, $2,000 for having used equipment Sunday that “did not conform or had not been approved by NASCAR.”

Sospenzo and Mayfield claimed that when the 6-foot, 175-pound driver jumped up and down on the roof after winning the team’s first race, it caused the roof line to drop below the specified 51-inch minimum height. NASCAR officials, after impounding the car and taking it to North Carolina for further inspection, refused to buy the story and fined Sospenzo.

This followed by two days an assessment of major penalties against the team for having a horsepower-enhancing substance in the car’s fuel at Talladega, Ala., during the Diehard 500 on April 16. Sospenzo was suspended in that case until June 6, even though he was unaware that a crewman had put the additive into the fuel during a pit stop.

“The crew chief is responsible for the actions of everyone on his crew,” said Mike Helton, NASCAR senior vice president and chief operator officer.

Car owner Michael Kranefuss was also fined $50,000 and 151 points were taken away from Mayfield in the standings for the Talladega incident. The points loss dropped Mayfield from seventh to 14th place. Mayfield lost no points in the low-roof case.