In a statement with its decision, the panel said the teams did violate NASCAR rules and retained the $100,000 fine and four-race suspensions to each of the four crew chiefs – Cliff Daniels, Rudy Fugle, Alan Gustafson and Blake Harris.
However, the panel rescinded the 100 owner and 10 playoff points assessed to each team and the 100 driver points assessed to drivers Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman and William Byron.
The appeals panel members for the hearing: were Kelly Housby, Dixon Johnston and Bill Lester.
“We are grateful to the National Motorsports Appeals Panel for their time and attention,” said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports, in a statement. “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.”
NASCAR statement
“We are pleased that the National Motorsports Appeals Panel agreed that Hendrick Motorsports violated the rule book. 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.”
What was the penalty for?
On March 15, NASCAR issued harsh penalties to five Cup teams – all four Hendrick teams and the No. 31 team from Kaulig Racing – for the unapproved modification of hood louvers (vents) which are single-source parts.
Hood louvers serve as a release point for ducts that transfer air out of the radiator of each car.
The No. 5 team with Larson, the No. 24 of Byron, the No. 48 of Bowman – all from Hendrick – and the No. 31 of driver Justin Haley were all penalized 100 driver points, 100 owner points and 10 playoff points.
The No. 9 of Elliott, also from HMS, was docked 100 owner points and 10 playoff points – no driver points since Elliott is currently not driving the car and recovering from an injury.
In addition all five crew chiefs of the respective teams were fined $100,000 and suspended four races each.
With the introduction of the Next Gen car in the 2022 season, NASCAR updated its penalty system to include much harsher consequences for violations, including the revoking of playoff eligibility, in particular with respect to modifying parts from single-source suppliers.
Much of the construction of the new model car revolves around single-source supplied parts, greatly reducing or eliminating the need of individual teams to spend money developing and producing their own.
Several teams were penalized last season for modification of single-source supplier parts and Joe Gibbs Racing had a pair of cars disqualified from Pocono last year for having additional tape on the nose of the cars of race winner Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch.
Kaulig Racing has also appealed its penalty and it will be heard by the panel on April 5.
