The National Motorsports Appeals Panel amended the penalty NASCAR gave Chris Buescher and his RFK Racing team earlier this month, cutting in half the point penalty they received.
The panel cut the 60-point penalty to Buescher and the team to 30 points each at Wednesday’s hearing.
Getting back 30 points moves Buescher from 23rd in the season standings to 16th heading into Sunday’s race at Nashville Superspeedway. He now has 274 points. That puts Buescher six points behind teammate Ryan Preece for the final playoff spot at the halfway point of the regular season.
RFK Racing stated: “We appreciate the opportunity to present our case to the National Motorsports Appeals Panel today and are pleased that the Panel overturned one of the two assessed penalties.
“Our goal is to always comply fully with the letter of the NASCAR Rulebook, and our focus is now looking forward to competing for a win in Nashville this weekend.”
The panel justified the cut by stating the team did not violate all the rules NASCAR cited.
“The panel concluded that NASCAR met its burden of proof regarding the reinforcement of the front bumper cover but did not meet it regarding the trimming of the exhaust panel cover. The rule book regarding the exhaust panel trimming lacked specificity on the amount trimmed or not trimmed. Accordingly, the Panel reduced the owner and driver points penalty from 60 to 30 points.”
The panel kept the rest of the penalties. That means that Buescher and the team still lose five playoff points each. The team’s fine of $75,000 remains as did the two-race suspension to crew chief Scott Graves. He served that penalty ahead of the appeal by sitting out the All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600.
NASCAR cited Buescher’s team for violating Section 14.5.4.G, which states: “The front fascia may be strengthened on the inner surface with bonded on non-metallic materials in the area contacting the bumper foam and up to 2 inches further in all directions.”
The appeal was heard by Tom DeLoach, Cary Tharrington and Kevin Whitaker.
The L1 violation with the front bumper cover was found at the NASCAR R&D Center when the car was brought there after the Kansas race for further inspection.
