Front Row Motorsports has elected to drop the appeal on an L-2 Penalty that was assessed to Michael McDowell’s No. 34 Ford Mustang following the July 24 event at Pocono Raceway, the team announced in a statement on Tuesday.
“After further assessing penalties levied against its No. 34 NASCAR Cup Series team, Front Row Motorsports has notified NASCAR that it will drop its appeal and accept the penalty. The team has made internal changes in its build practices to ensure the issues leading to the penalties will not happen again in the future.”
The penalty to McDowell and Front Row Motorsports was assessed after it was discovered while at the NASCAR R&D Center that the organization had modified a single-source supplied part.
As a result, McDowell and Front Row Motorsports’ No. 34 were docked 100 driver and owner points and 10 Playoff points. Additionally, Blake Harris – crew chief on the No. 34 Ford Mustang – was fined $100,000 and suspended for the next four NASCAR Cup Series events.
Chris Yerges, lead engineer on the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports team, will serve as an interim crew chief for Michael McDowell’s entry beginning this weekend at Michigan International Speedway.
McDowell rides a streak of two consecutive top-10 results after an eight-place finish at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
