The National Motorsports Appeals Panel has made a decision regarding the penalty issued to RFK Racing driver Ryan Preece. It has upheld the original penalty issued by NASCAR.
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Preece will move forward without 25 driver points and without $50,000 after he and RFK Racing presented their case.
This panel consisted of former Truck Series team owner Tom DeLoach, motorsports marketing executive Dixon Johnston, and former racer Lake Speed.
Back on May 5, NASCAR announced that it had decided to penalize Preece for his actions during a Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
He appeared to hit Ty Gibbs' rear bumper on Lap 101 of the race, which Chase Elliot won. The No. 54 Toyota slammed into the outside SAFER barrier.
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This wreck occurred after Preece cued up his radio and made numerous comments about Gibbs. He also told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that he could have lifted while racing around Gibbs, but he chose not to do so.
Preece contended that he did not actually make contact with Gibbs' car during the race at Texas.
"Although not a unanimous decision, NASCAR and RFK Racing presented competing interpretations of common data," the Appeals Panel said in a statement.
"Neither side clearly proved their point, but Mr. Preece's comments showed that he chose to not cut his competitor any breaks."
RFK Racing responded to the decision by the National Motorsports Appeals Panel. The team still disagrees with the penalty and the subsequent decision, but it will not move forward and present a case to the Final Appeals Officer.
"RFK Racing is extremely disappointed in today's ruling by the National Motorsports Appeals Panel," the team said in a statement. "We stand by Ryan Preece and believe our argument was fair, sound, and without question.
"We appreciate the forum provided by NASCAR to both provide detailed evidence and defend our stance through thoughtful data and digital evidence. Let's get back to racing - see you in Nashville!"
With the penalty upheld, Preece now heads to Nashville Superspeedway much closer to falling out of contention for The Chase. He is 16th in points and on the cutline. He is 15 points ahead of Austin Cindric.
