Alex Bowman is back leading the points after the National Motorsports Appeals Panel rescinded the 100-point penalty to each Hendrick Motorsports driver and team Wednesday. The Appeals Panel also rescinded the 10-point playoff to each Hendrick driver and team.
The Appeals Panel found that Hendrick violated the rule by modifying the hood louvers on the cars of Bowman, William Byron, Kyle Larson and Josh Berry at Phoenix. The louvers were taken after practice that weekend.
The Appeals Panel kept the $100,000 fine and four-race suspension to each Hendrick crew chief: Cliff Daniels, Alan Gustafson, Blake Harris and Rudy Fugle. All four sat out the past two races, meaning they’ll miss this weekend’s race at Richmond and next weekend’s race on the dirt at Bristol before returning the following weekend at Martinsville.
The Appeals Panel did not give a reason for its decision.
Bowman had been 16th in the standings with the 100-point penalty. He now has a 15-point lead on Ross Chastain after getting all those points back.
Byron goes from 22nd to third after getting his points back. He’s 29 points behind Bowman, 14 points behind Chastain and five points ahead of Kyle Busch. Byron also gets his 10 playoff points back for his wins at Las Vegas and Phoenix.
Larson goes from 27th to ninth with getting his points back.
“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 (Raceway).”
NASCAR stated its displeasure with part of the penalty being rescinded.
“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.”
The panelists on the appeal were former driver Bill Lester, Kelly Housby and Dixon Johnston.
Here is the updated points
1. Alex Bowman 226 points
2. Ross Chastain 211
3. William Byron 197
4. Kyle Busch 192
5. Joey Logano 186
6. Kevin Harvick 186
7. Christopher Bell 184
8. Ryan Blaney 177
9. Kyle Larson 170
10. Austin Cindric 166
11. Martin Truex Jr. 165
12. Brad Keselowski 162
13. Tyler Reddick 161
14. Denny Hamlin 161
15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 159
16. Chris Buescher 157
17. Daniel Suárez 144
18. Corey LaJoie 139
19. Michael McDowell 125
20. Ty Gibbs 118
21. Bubba Wallace 103
22. AJ Allmendinger 103
23. Erik Jones 99
24. Chase Briscoe 96
25. Todd Gilliland 95
26. Austin Dillon 93
27. Noah Gragson 86
28. Aric Almirola 70
29. Ryan Preece 69
30. Harrison Burton 66
