Brad Keselowski, Tony Stewart Teams Penalized by NASCAR After 4th Warning

NASCAR has punished the teams of Brad Keselowski and Tony Stewart ahead of this Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, per Dustin Long of NASCAR Talk.

According to Long, officials reprimanded Keselowski's and Stewart's teams after they earned their fourth warnings on the season at last week's race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. As a result, the pit crews won't have the right to choose their own pit stall based on qualifying results. Instead, they'll pick among the last two stalls available, with Keselowski getting first choice.   

The punishment is standard for teams that have accumulated four penalties.

ESPN.com's Bob Pockrass provided the specifics regarding Stewart's and Keselowski's infractions:

Keselowski is among the 12 drivers still in the Contender Round, with two more races until the Sprint Cup Chase field dwindles to eight. Keselowski sits in eighth place, so he's right at the cutoff point. Ryan Newman and Kyle Busch are ninth and 10th, and the gap separating them from the No. 2 car is six and 10 points, respectively. It wouldn't take much for them to move into the top eight.

With such small margins, even a minor thing like choosing a pit stall can be a major nuisance for Keselowski.