CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR has penalized two championship contending teams for problems found during qualifying at Daytona.
Three-time champion Tony Stewart was docked six points, and crew chief Steve Addington was fined $25,000 because of a cooling hose found inside Stewart's car during qualifying. He forfeited his second-place qualifying spot, but still won Saturday night's race.
In the Nationwide Series, Austin Dillon was docked six points for the same violation as Stewart. Crew chief Danny Stockman and car chief Robert Strmiska have both been suspended until July 25. The team was also penalized last week.
NASCAR also fined crew chief Adam Stevens $10,000 and docked Joe Gibbs six points because Joey Logano's car failed Friday night's Nationwide Series post-race inspection.
ARMY dropping sponsorship
The U.S. Army will not return to Stewart-Haas Racing next season, effectively ending its sponsorship in NASCAR altogether after a decade.
SHR said Tuesday it is pursuing a new sponsor.
“The U.S. Army has been a great partner of Stewart-Haas Racing since the team's inception,” said Brett Frood, executive vice president of SHR. “It has been a mutually beneficial relationship, with the U.S. Army introducing training regimens that improved our pit crews while instilling the mental, physical and emotional strength of the U.S. Army Soldier in all of us.”
The Army has been in NASCAR for 10 seasons, and at one point was a primary sponsor. It moved to SHR to sponsor Ryan Newman in 2009 when the team was formed.
Patrick adds another track
Danica Patrick will race her 10th and final Sprint Cup Series event on Oct. 21 at Kansas Speedway.
Patrick is driving a 10-race schedule this season and the final event was not announced until Tuesday.
Stewart-Haas Racing and Tommy Baldwin Racing field the No. 10 Chevrolet for Patrick in a joint agreement. They decided Kansas was the best place for Patrick because it will be open for an additional day of practice due to its recent repave.


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