NASCAR crew members hit with late four-race suspensions for Las Vegas safety infraction

NASCAR News Thursday, March 19, 2026 at 6:00 PM ET •By Graham Shaw

NASCAR has dropped a major penalty update four days after the event, handing a multi-race penalty to three crew members.

We got the news late Wednesday that there will now be major change for the Big Racing Machine’s No. 48 Chevrolet in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.

The car, driven by Patrick Staropoli during last Saturday’s The LiUNA! at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, was found to have a loss or separation of ballast. That safety infraction means major penalties incoming.

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Four-race bans for Big Racing Machine crew

NASCAR’s Communications team shared the news late Wednesday that crew members Patrick Donahue (crew chief), Dillon Bassett (car chief) and Morgan Olsen (engineer) have all been suspended for the next four races.

The suspensions are effective immediately and begin at Darlington this weekend. That means Donahue, Bassett and Olsen will be ineligible to return until April 18 at Kansas Speedway when the Kansas Lottery takes center stage.

The races the trio will miss are as follows:

March 21: Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 (Darlington)
March 28: NFPA 250 (Martinsville)
April 4: North Carolina Education Lottery 250 (Rockingham)
April 11: Suburban Propane 300 (Bristol)

Staropoli eventually finished in 21st position behind race winner Kyle Larson last Saturday, and he will again be at the wheel this weekend in Darlington.