Like Hendrick Motorsports, Kaulig Racing will be appealing the massive L2 penalty that was levied on its No. 31 NASCAR Cup Series team following this past weekend’s action at Phoenix Raceway.
The No. 31 team had a set of hood louvers confiscated by NASCAR prior to qualifying on Saturday. Following the weekend, NASCAR docked the team 100 owner and driver points as well as 10 Playoff Points. Additionally, crew chief Trent Owens was fined $100,000 and was issued a four-race suspension.
According to a statement from Kaulig Racing on Thursday, the team feels they were not at fault in the issues that NASCAR found with its hood louver, rather the team feels the single source part supplier is to blame.
“Prior to qualifying on Saturday, only one of the two louvers on the No. 31 car was confiscated, showing inconsistencies in the parts provided to teams from NASCAR’s single source supplier, providing no competitive advantage.”
The team, in addition to appealing the points penalties and the monetary fine, has also placed a request to defer the suspension of Owens until after the appeal hearing. If that request is granted, Owens will remain atop the pit box for Haley and the No. 31 team until the organization’s case is heard by the National Motorsports Appeals Panel.
