NASCAR issues penalties to No. 33 Cup team, Xfinity team

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) NASCAR has fined and suspended the crew chief of a Richard Childress Racing-affiliated team.

The sanctioning body fined Slugger Labbe $50,000, suspended him the next three races and placed him on probation until Dec. 31. Car owner Joe Falk was docked 25 owner points.

The penalties stemmed from a rules infraction discovered during opening day inspection March 20 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Xfinity Series regular Brian Scott was driving the No. 33 Chevrolet at Fontana. The infraction involved the improper mounting and assembly of the car's truck trailing arm.

NASCAR also issued behavioral penalties to five Xfinity crew members for failure to comply with a directive from track security during pre-race activities March 21 at Auto Club. The crew members - Mark Armstrong, Tyler Bullard, Nathaniel House, Jeremy Howard and Ryan Mulder - were working for driver Blake Koch's No. 8 team.

Armstrong was fined $1,500 and suspended until April 21. Armstrong, Bullard, House, Howard and Mulder were placed on probation until the end of the year.