Jesse Love and the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing team, who were disqualified following post-race inspection after last Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series North Carolina Education Lottery 250 at Rockingham Speedway, had their appeal heard on Wednesday.
Following the appeal, the National Motorsports Appeals Panel opted to uphold the penalties levied to Love and the No. 2 team as the panel determined that the appellants violated the rules set forth in the penalty notice, and that the panel affirmed and decided to uphold the original penalty assessed by NASCAR.
While they couldn’t determine whether the infractions were intentional or not, the panel, which was comprised of Bill Mullis, Hunter Nickell, and Steve York, issued the following explanation for their ruling:
“The panel finds that it is more likely than not that there was a violation of 14.14.2 Rear Suspension, I-5.H. The panel was unable to determine whether the violation was intentional or unintentional. The panel finds that the mating surfaces between the truck trailing arm and the U-bolt saddle were not in contact with each other.”
Love’s No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, which initially was scored as the race winner last Saturday, was found to be in violation of NASCAR Xfinity Series Rule Book Sections 14.14.2 (Rear Suspension) and I-5.H (Truck Trailing Arm Spacers/Pinion Angle Shims) in post-race inspection.
On Monday, April 21, Richard Childress Racing announced that the team would appeal the disqualification.
As a result of the disqualification being upheld, Sammy Smith has officially locked in the race win in the first NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Rockingham Speedway since 2004. Love was credited with a 37th-place finish due to the DQ, one spot ahead of Justin Bonsignore, who was also disqualified following the race.
