In what was the team’s final appeal, Penske Racing came out ahead in a ruling issued Tuesday by National Stock Car Racing Chief Appellate Officer John Middlebrook.
Penske Racing has crew suspensions reduced from six races to two
In what was its final appeal, Penske Racing had the suspensions of seven crewmembers reduced from six races to two. The other penalties and fines will remain in place.
Tom Pennington
Middlebrook reduced the suspensions of seven crewmembers from six races to two (plus the Sprint All-Star Race).
However, the points and fines initially placed on the Penske teams of Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano remain including fines of $100,000 for their respective crew chiefs and the loss of 25 driver and owner points.
The suspended personnel, which include the crew chiefs, car chiefs and head engineers for Keselowski and Logano along with Penske’s competition director, will miss the points races Saturday at Darlington Raceway and May 26 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
They will also be sidelined for the non-points All-Star Race May 18 also at Charlotte.
Pleased with the outcome, Penske called the appeals process “fair and equitable” shortly after the decision had been rendered.
“It was a good outcome for everyone,” he said. “Obviously, I’m very happy with the outcome. This sport has been built on innovation and all of us try and innovate in areas not defined in the rule book.”
The sanctions originated from unapproved suspension parts and pieces confiscated from the Penske cars of Keselowski and Logano during pre-race inspection April 13 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Four days later, NASCAR issued penalties, which were upheld last week by a three-member appeals board.
This is the fifth time in six cases Middlebrook, who became chief appellate officer in 2010, has reduced NASCAR-imposed penalties.
The most high-profile occurrence was last year when he overturned a six-week suspension for Chad Knaus and a 25-point penalty for Jimmie Johnson and the Hendrick Motorsports team after NASCAR declared the C-posts on the No. 48 to be illegal prior to the Daytona 500.
However, the $100,000 fine levied against Knaus was not rescinded.
The replacement crew chiefs for Keselowski and Logano will be named later in the week, according to Penske.
“I feel our bench is strong and that we have people that can step in for the two crew chiefs and the people who won’t be here,” he said. “To me, it’s going to be business as usual at Darlington.”
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