The National Motorsports Appeals Panel (NMAP) heard and considered an appeal by NASCAR Cup Series team Trackhouse Racing on Thursday, relating to penalties for manipulating the outcome of Sunday’s XFINITY 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
Kelly Housby, Lyn St. James, and Steve York made up the three-person panel that assessed the validity of the organization’s claims.
After deliberating, the panel decided that Ross Chastain and the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro from Trackhouse Racing did indeed violate the outlined section of the NASCAR Cup Series Rule Book.
The penalties will stand in their full form.
In reaching the above decision, the panel provided the following explanation: “We feel in the best interest of racing and to protect the integrity of the sport, it was appropriate to uphold and affirm NASCAR’s decision with regard to the NASCAR rule 4.4, attempting to manipulate the outcome of the race.”
Phil Surgen (crew chief), Brandon McReynolds (spotter), and Tony Lunders (team executive) will be suspended for this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix.
McReynolds also spots for Parker Kligerman and Big Machine Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and as a result of the suspension will not be able to serve in his role at Phoenix Raceway. Per NASCAR’s Roster Portal, Eric Holmes will serve as the spotter of the No. 48 Chevrolet.
Trackhouse Racing and Ross Chastain will still be required to pay the $100,000 fine assessed by NASCAR, and Chastain has been docked 50 driver points and 50 owner points.
The organization will have the opportunity to make one final appeal to the Final Appeals Officer (FAO), which would likely have to be heard on Friday. However, Trackhouse Racing has not made it known whether they’ll take that option or not.
Richard Childress Racing was also scheduled to have an appeal hearing on Thursday, at 5:30 PM ET, but has since decided to withdraw its appeal. 23XI Racing did the same with a social media statement posted on Wednesday. Both teams received the same penalties as the No. 1.
NASCAR’s Team Roster Portal does not list an interim crew chief or spotter for either Ross Chastain or Austin Dillon.
