Hendrick Motorsports has finally had the chance to speak its peace to the National Motorsports Appeals Panel, two weeks after NASCAR announced that it would hand down massive penalties to all four teams.
The appeal, made Wednesday by the championship-winning organization, is the first of three that the NMAP will consider in the coming weeks, all of which originate from Phoenix Raceway.
After the penalties were issued, Chad Knaus, Senior VP of Competition for Hendrick Motorsports, spoke to members of the media about their position on the penalties, saying that NASCAR’s single-source suppliers
On the evening of March 29, the National Motorsports Appeals Panel announced that they’ve decided to amend the penalties assessed to Hendrick Motorsports for the illegal modification of hood louvers.
“We are grateful to the National Motorsports Appeals Panel for their time and attention,” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. “Today’s outcome reflects the facts, and we’re pleased the panel did the right thing by overturning the points penalty. It validated our concerns regarding unclear communication and other issues we raised. We look forward to focusing on the rest of our season, beginning with this weekend’s race at Richmond (Raceway).”
The $100,000 fine and four-race suspension for Cliff Daniels, Alan Gustafson, Rudy Fugle, and Blake Harris has been upheld by the National Motorsports Appeals Panel, which means all four crew chiefs will sit out from events at Richmond and Bristol Dirt.
However, the penalties to Hendrick Motorsports have been altered, so that all points implications – the loss of driver points, owner points, and playoff points – have been removed from the punishment of the penalty.
With the restoration of driver, owner, and playoff points to Hendrick Motorsports, Alex Bowman will enter Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Richmond Raceway as the points leader. William Byron leaps to fourth, while Kyle Larson jumps to ninth in points.
The No. 9 team, which has had Jordan Taylor and Josh Berry behind the wheel in Chase Elliott’s absence, jumps to 20th place in NASCAR Cup Series owner points.
“We are pleased that the National Motorsports Appeals Panel agreed that Hendrick Motorsports violated the rule book,” a statement from NASCAR reads. “However, we are disappointed that the entirety of the penalty was not upheld. A points penalty is a strong deterrent that is necessary to govern the garage following rule book violations, and we believe that it was an important part of the penalty in this case and moving forward. We will continue to inspect and officiate the NASCAR garage at the highest level of scrutiny to ensure a fair and level playing field for our fans and the entire garage.”
One Response
If this was a ford team the Appeal would have been denied. Chev own s nascar. Look at kes. They dropped the hammer on him.