Newman’s title chances take hit following NASCAR penalty

Larson is already locked into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup by virtue of his victory 10 days ago at Michigan International Speedway.

Ryan Newman’s path to the 2016 Chase is much more hard than it was immediately after Sunday night’s race at Darlington. There could be a points’ penalty for both teams, which would be extremely costly in Ryan Newman’s bid to overcome one of the other winless drivers for a Chase berth. With the penalty, Newman has a 22-point edge on Kasey Kahne heading into Richmond for that spot.

Newman’s team was penalized 10 points in March after NASCAR determined his vehicle had illegal right-rear corner brackets.

The 16-driver Chase field is comprised of the regular-season champion and then 15 drivers based on number of wins (as long as they are in the top-30 in points) with ties broken by points.

Newman’s infraction was officially a P3 penalty on NASCAR’s five-level system.

Richard Childress, owner of Newman’s No. 31 Chevrolet, also was docked 15 points and crew chief Luke Lambert was fined $25,000.

But Newman could find himself facing a larger deficit entering Saturday’s regular season finale at Richmond International Raceway, as his auto failed postrace technical inspection on Sunday. He now has had 25 points in penalties this year.