NASCAR suspended Truck Series Conner Jones (Thorsport Racing No. 66) through this weekend’s race at Martinsville Speedway following an additional review of his incident with Matt Mills last weekend at Homestead Miami Speedway.
The sanctioning body also issued a points fine and suspension to Front Row Motorsports crew chief Dylan Cappello (Layne Riggs) for a technical infraction discovered over the weekend prior to the Truck Series race.
Jones was issued a two-lap penalty in real time on Saturday after driving flat into the back of Mills and not lifting until the latter spun backwards into the wall. The Niece Motorsports truck caught fire but Mills climbed out under his own power.
Jones went into a minutes long tirade over his team radio, dropping several expletives, and accusing Mills of blocking him numerous times over the season.
Mills was treated at the infield care center but transported to a local hospital where he remained for two nights for smoke inhalation. Jones declined comment immediately after the race but issued an apology statement over the internet hours afterwards.
The Front Row Motorsports No. 38 had its steering wheel confiscated over the weekend and NASCAR issued a 10 driver/owner points penalty and the suspension to its first year crew chief and driver combination.
In other penalty news, NASCAR fined three Xfinity Series crew chiefs $5,000 each for having one lug nut not safe and secure in post-race inspection. Those crew chiefs included Mardy Lindley of the JR Motorsports No. 1 for Sam Mayer, Andy Street of the Richard Childress Racing No. 21 for race winner Austin Hill and Joe Williams of the RSS Racing No. 39 for Ryan Sieg.
Officials also fined Truck Series crew chief Charles Walter $2,500 when one lug nut was found not safe and secure on the Spire Motorsports No. 71 driven by Rajah Caruth.
