Why NASCAR penalized Austin Dillon? Exploring reasons for docking points and more

NASCAR issued Austin Dillon an L1 penalty on Wednesday after his #3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet was found to have breached rules pertaining to the underwing assembly mounting and underwing stay assembly hardware following Sunday's Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway.

As a result, the team has been docked 60 driver and owner points, in addition to five playoff points. Keith Rodden, the crew chief, has been banned for the next two championship races and fined $75,000.

The penalty moves Dillon, who finished 12th in Sunday's race, from 21st to 29th in the regular season rankings and leaves him with 122 points from the first nine races.

"We are disappointed in the penalty that NASCAR issued to Richard Childress Racing following the recent NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway, and plan to go through the appeal process," RCR said their statement.

NASCAR has also penalized Anthony Alfredo's No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports team over a lost wheel, which brought out a yellow flag. Alfredo's crew members Chris Jackson and David Smith have been suspended for the next two championship races.

In the Xfinity Series, there were penalties for incorrectly-placed or missing lug nuts. Three teams - the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, and No. 39 RSS Racing Ford - received fines of $5,000 each.

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Leidos is collaborating with NASCAR on Artemis moon rover

Leidos is collaborating with NASCAR on the development of a lunar rover for an upcoming NASA competition.

Earlier this week, Leidos unveiled their concept for a Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) that can carry two humans for lunar surface excursions. The company, along with its Dynetics team, is aiming to secure a NASA contract for the Artemis 5 mission in the late 2020s.

Jonathan Pettus, the senior vice president for aerospace, defense, and civil operations at Dynetics, highlighted NASCAR's designs for a new racing car with characteristics such as quick repairs that could be useful for a lunar rover.

Commercialization is another motive for collaboration. The Leidos Dynetics Group aims to combine their expertise in providing space services for NASA with NASCAR's fan base, marketing, and their experience in the production of race cars.

This might enable the company to make the rover available to other customers or perhaps seek funding and possible sponsorships.