TC Daily Pit Stop: 24 and 48 Teams Handed L1 Penalties; Appeals Panel Upholds Hamlin Penalty; NASCAR Changes Rule Book; All-Star Format Revealed; Dean Thompson Cleared to Return

TC Daily Pit Stop: Friday, April 7th, 2023

Apr 07, 2023

Photo Credit: TobyChristie.com

Hendrick Motorsports didn’t even have a chance to celebrate its victory in the appeal of its L2 penalties sustained following its four cars being found to have illegal hood louvers at Phoenix. After all 100-points and 10 playoff points were sent back to the teams by the National Motorsports Appeals Panel heading into Richmond, NASCAR took the No. 24 and No. 48 cars back to the R&D center after Richmond.

After further inspection, NASCAR found an issue with the greenhouse area of both cars. As a result, NASCAR issued L1 penalties to both teams, which included to loss of 60 driver and owner points, five Playoff Points, a $75,000 fine to each and a two race suspension for the team’s interim crew chiefs, which begin after Bristol.

National Motorsports Appeals Panel Upholds Penalties For Denny Hamlin Intentionally Colliding With Ross Chastain

Photo Credit: Nigel Kinrade, LAT Images, Courtesy of Toyota Racing

Let Denny Hamlin serve as an example; if you intentionally crash a competitor, simply keep your mouth shut about it. On Thursday, the National Motorsports Appeals Panel upheld the 25-point, $50,000 penalties that NASCAR dished out to Hamlin following the driver admitting on his podcast that he intentionally crashed Ross Chastain in the closing laps at Phoenix.

NASCAR Removes Ability of National Motorsports Appeals Panel to Completely Rescind Any Element in Assessed Penalties

Photo Credit: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images

Following controversy stemming from the current appeals process, which saw Hendrick Motorsports get its entire points penalty in an L2 infraction rescinded, while Kaulig Racing only received a quarter of its points back for the exact same infraction, NASCAR has made changes to the NASCAR Rule Book to strip away some of the power of the National Motorsports Appeals Panel.

Going forward, the Panel and the Final Appeals Officer will not be allowed to completely remove an element of a listed penalty, unless the panel finds the appellant to be not in violation of the rulebook.

Instead, the Appeals panel will have to keep penalties within a minimum and maximum range, and NASCAR will now be allowed to publish the justification from the panel on why the penalty was amended.

NASCAR Announces Format for 2023 All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway

PHOTO CREDIT: Speedway Motorsports/NASCAR

The format for the 2023 NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro was finally revealed on Thursday, and it can be summed up in one word: simple.

A pit crew competition, which will time four-tire pit stops will set the field for the two 60-lap heat qualifying races.

The two 60-lap heat races to set the starting lineup for the main event. A 100-lap All-Star Open, where the top-two finishers and a fan vote contestant will make their way into the main event. And then there will be a 200-lap main event with a competition break around the mid-way point. Teams will have three additional sets of tires for the race, but only one will be allowed to be used after the halfway break. The winner will take $1-million.

Dean Thompson Cleared to Return to NASCAR Truck Series at Bristol

PHOTO CREDIT: Jonathan McCoy / TobyChristie.com

Dean Thompson, who was injured in a vicious crash at Texas Motor Speedway, and sent to a local hospital for further evaluation, has been cleared to return to competition in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this weekend at Dirt Bristol.

TRICON Garage made the announcement on Thursday with a statement that read, “Following medical evaluations after his on-track incident at Texas Motor Speedway, Dean Thompson has been cleared by NASCAR to return to competition behind the wheel of the No. 5 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota Tundra TRD Pro this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway.”