NASCAR handed down severe penalties to Ryan Newman's No. 31 team in the Sprint Cup Series on Tuesday for altered tires used in the March 22 race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.

Luke Lambert, the crew chief for the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, has been suspended for the next six races, fined $125,000 and placed on probation until Dec. 31.

James Bender, the team's tire technician, and Philip Surgen, the team engineer, have also been suspended for the next six races and put on probation for the remainder of the year.

Newman has been penalized with a loss of 75 points in the driver championship standings, while Richard Childress was docked the same number of points in the owners' standings.

The rule infractions by Newman's team were discovered as a result of NASCAR's post-event tire audit conducted after the Fontana race. The sanctioning body had been taking tires from several teams, including Newman's, and having them thoroughly inspected at an independent agency following the events at Phoenix, Fontana and Martinsville this month.