Joe Gibbs penalized for oil pan issue

NASCAR fined Joe Gibbs Racing's three crew chiefs $50,000 each Tuesday for bringing unapproved oil pans to Michigan last week.

Mike Ford, Dave Rogers and Greg Zipadelli also were placed on probation through the end of the year, as was JGR competition director Jimmy Makar and car chiefs Chris Gillin (No. 11), Wesley Sherrill (No. 18) and Jason Shapiro (No. 20).

NASCAR discovered the unapproved oil pans in the cars of Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano during a pre-practice inspection Friday at Michigan International Speedway. NASCAR never said if the oil pans were illegal, but confiscated them because they had not been submitted for approval before arriving at the track.

Team president J.D. Gibbs said the organization mistakenly believed the oil pans would be approved at the track.

''It was our responsibility, and we messed it up,'' Gibbs said Sunday at Michigan. ''It wasn't an illegal part you're trying to sneak through. It's a new part, and we should have done it differently.''

Hamlin won Sunday's race, while Busch finished third.

Gibbs said the team planned to submit the oil pan for approval.