TC Daily Pit Stop: Hendrick Penalties Amended Following Appeal; Daniel Suarez Fined For Post-Race Pit Road Contact at COTA

TC Daily Pit Stop: Thursday, March 30th, 2023

Toby Christie

Mar 30, 2023

Photo Credit: Tim Parks/HHP for Chevy Racing

On Wednesday, Hendrick Motorsports finally had its appeal heard following an L2 penalty, which was issued when NASCAR found illegal hood louvers on all four of the team’s cars in pre-practice inspection at Phoenix Raceway.

The National Motorsports Appeals Panel restored the 100 driver and owner points and 10 playoff points that were deducted for all four teams, but the crew chief four-race suspensions and the $100,000 per team fines will remain intact.

With the 100 points back, Alex Bowman is now the NASCAR Cup Series regular-season points leader, while William Byron is now slotted in third. Kyle Larson now ranks ninth in the standings.

While NASCAR is happy the team was found by the Appeals panel to have broken the rules, the sanctioning body is not pleased with the outcome of the appeal.

“We are pleased that the National Motorsports Appeals Panel agreed that Hendrick Motorsports violated the rule book,” a statement from NASCAR reads. “However, we are disappointed that the entirety of the penalty was not upheld.”

UPDATED NASCAR Cup Series Driver Standings

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UPDATED NASCAR Cup Series Owner Standings

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Daniel Suarez Fined $50,000 for Pit Road Contact Post-Race at COTA

Photo Credit: Meg Oliphant/Getty Images

Daniel Suarez made contact in frustration with both Ross Chastain and Alex Bowman on pit road following Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas.

The contact, which happened just feet away from NASCAR Officials, who were standing on pit road to get cars lined up following the race, was deemed dangerous enough by NASCAR to warrant a penalty.

In its weekly penalty report, NASCAR announced that it had fined Suarez $50,000 for the post-race antics.