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Hamlin crew suspended; Kyle Busch win Xfinity race on Memorial Day

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — NASCAR suspended three critical crew members for Denny Hamlin’s team because a piece of tungsten fell off his car on the pace lap before the Coca-Cola 600.

The tungsten is required to meet minimum weight requirements on the car and the NASCAR rule book states if it is separated at any point it is an automatic four-race suspension for the crew chief, car chief and engineer.

Chris Gabehart, the crew chief, was suspended along with car chief Brandon Griffeth and engineer Scott Simmons.

Joe Gibbs Racing said it would not appeal the penalty and already had roster replacements for Wednesday night’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Sam McAulay will be the crew chief, while Eric Phillips will be car chief and Scott Eldridge the engineer.

NASCAR’s next four races are at Charlotte, Bristol, Atlanta and Martinsville between Wednesday night and June 10, when the suspension ends.

In Concord, N.C. Monday, Kyle Busch passed Austin Cindric on the final lap in overtime to win his 97th career Xfinity Series race in dramatic fashion at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

After a crash involving several cars sent the race into overtime, Cindric passed Busch on a restart starting at the inside lane of the front row. But Busch battled back and pushed the pedal to the floor, passing Cindric on the last lap to earn his 18th overall win at Charlotte Motor Speedway across NASCAR’s top three series — the most of any driver.

Busch has now won 210 career races across NASCAR’s top three series.

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