Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Slugger Labbe suspended as RCR #33 team is penalized

Sprint Cup Series crew chief Richard "Slugger" Labbe has been suspended for the next three races - Martinsville, Texas and Bristol - in the wake of penalties handed out to the #33 Chevrolet team co-owned by Childress and Joe Falk during Friday inspection at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. The #33 team, whose car was driven by Childress's Xfinity Series driver Brian Scott at Fontana under the RCR banner, was found to have an illegal truck trailer arm extension. They were hit with a P4 penalty for using unapproved parts as well as actions detrimental to stock car racing. Labbe was fined $50,000 and is on probation through December 31 in addition to his suspension. Falk has also lost 25 owner points for the #33 car.

Labbe departed the #27 RCR Chevrolet of Paul Menard following the 2014 season to move to the RCR-Falk operation. He had been Menard's crew chief since Menard's 2010 stint with Richard Petty Motorsports. He previously worked with other drivers such as Michael Waltrip at the unofficially RCR-aligned Dale Earnhardt Inc., Kenny Irwin Jr. and Dale Jarrett at Robert Yates Racing and Jeremy Mayfield at Evernham Motorsports. Labbe has helped Cup drivers win a number of races including the 2003 Daytona 500 with Waltrip and the 2011 Brickyard 400 with Menard. He previously served a four-race suspension in 2006 after a violation on Jarrett's car.

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