A big win for Hendrick Motorsports has turned NASCAR on its head. The National Motorsports Appeals Panel decided Wednesday to overturn a portion of the penalty levied against four teams for issues with the louvers on the hoods of the cars before the NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway. NASCAR penalized each of Hendrick's four cars — including the one driven by William Byron, who won the race in Phoenix — 100 points and 10 playoff points after the race weekend. HMS immediately appealed the penalty and eventually won.
Hendrick Motorsports: "Today's Outcome Reflects the Facts"
Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images
"We are pleased that the National Motorsports Appeals Panel agreed that Hendrick Motorsports violated the rule book," NASCAR said in a statement. "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 sentiment from HMS was a bit more upbeat.
"We are grateful to the National Motorsports Appeals Panel for their time and attention," Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports, said in a statement following the decision. "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)."
Hendrick vice president of competition Chad Knaus added that parts suppliers need to be held accountable days after the penalty was announced. If teams can be held accountable, he said, so should parts dealers. "We in the garage — every one of these teams here are being held accountable to put their car out there to go through inspection and perform at the level they need to. The teams are being held accountable for doing that. Nobody is holding the single-source providers accountable at the level that they need to be to give us the parts that we need. That goes through NASCAR's distribution center and NASCAR's approval process to get those parts and we are not getting the right parts."
The $100,000 fine to each team will remain, but the points will be reinstated to each driver. That decision has left a sour taste in the mouth of some fans and NASCAR itself. The reinstated points shake up the standings in a big way as well. Alex Bowman becomes the points leader, and William Byron lands in third. Kyle Larson jumps to the ninth spot, while Chase Elliott's spot doesn't change because he wasn't the driver of record at Phoenix; but the No. 9 team lands at 20th in the owner standings.
