DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Oct. 16 (UPI) -- NASCAR officials announced Wednesday that Todd Bodine had been placed on probation for the rest of the year, putting him one incident from an indefinite suspension from the Winston Cup circuit.
Crew chiefs Tommy Baldwin and Mike Ford also were fined by NASCAR in further fallout from the events last weekend at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Bodine was involved in a multi-car accident on lap 231 of Sunday's UAW-GM Quality 500. He was penalized for "actions detrimental to stock car racing" and "careless driving." According to NASCAR Winston Cup Series director John Darby, it was not the first time Bodine had driven recklessly.
"We've noticed numerous on-track incidents involving Todd and we felt this was the proper step to take at this time," Darby said.
If there is another action by Bodine that NASCAR officials consider detrimental or disruptive to the orderly conduct of the event, Bodine would be suspended indefinitely.
Baldwin, the crew chief for Busch Grand National series driver Wally Dallenbach, was fined $25,000 for a Dodge Intrepid used in Friday's Little Trees 300 that was a quarter inch below the specified height requirement.
Ford, the crew chief for Winston Cup driver Bill Elliott, was fined $2,000 because crew member Phil Gould went onto pit road without a helmet.
