The team was penalized following a tire audit of Auto Club 400 tires
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Related: No. 33 penalty reduced to P2 | Where the No. 31 penalty ranks
Richard Childress Racing’s appeal of penalties levied against its No. 31 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team will be heard Thursday by the National Motorsports Appeals Panel at the sanctioning body’s Research and Development Center in Concord, North Carolina.
RCR officials are contesting penalties handed down following an audit of tires used by the team during this year’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway.
Concern over teams modifying tires, or hardware, to allow air pressure to remain at a more consistent level during a race run, has grown since the closing races of the 2014 season. NASCAR officials have not addressed the specific findings following the investigation of the No. 31 team’s tires, only the resulting penalties.
Driver Ryan Newman and car owner Richard Childress were penalized with the loss of 75 driver and owner points, respectively; crew chief Luke Lambert was fined $125,000, suspended for six Sprint Cup Series points races (as well as any non-points events contested during that time) and placed on probation through Dec. 31; team tire technician James Bender and team engineer Philip Surgen were also suspended for six Sprint Cup Series points races (as well as any non-points events contested during that time) and placed on probation through Dec. 31.
As a result, Newman dropped from sixth to 26th in the points standings. Because the team has appealed the penalties, the suspensions of Lambert, Bender and Surgen have been deferred until the hearing; however, the loss of points for Newman and the team remain in place.
NASCAR officials have conducted tire audits this year following races at Las Vegas, Phoenix, Auto Club and Martinsville, taking tires from several teams for further evaluation at the R&D center. At least some of those taken from the Auto Club race were also sent to an outside group for examination.
RELATED: Meet the National Motorsports Appeals Panel
Following the announcement of the penalties, RCR president Torrey Galida said the organization “has been one of the most outspoken opponents against ‘tire bleeding’ since the rumors began to surface last season.”
Last week, Childress issued a statement saying his group is “confident we have a very compelling case to present to the appeals panel.
“We strongly believe in the intent of the rules and the integrity of our own teams while following those same rules.”
On March 31, NASCAR penalized the team for violating the following sections of the 2015 NASCAR rulebook:
12.1: Actions detrimental to stock car racing.
20.16: Wheels and tires – A.) Any device, modification, or procedure to the tire or wheel, including the valve stem hardware, that is used to release pressure, beyond normal pressure adjustments, from the tire and/or inner shield, will not be permitted.
20.16.2 Tires – F.) Modifications to the tires, by treatment or any other means, will not be permitted.
Because of the nature of the infractions, the violations are categorized as P5 level, among the most serious in the sport.
A three-member panel will hear the case; should RCR lose its appeal, it has the option of requesting a final appeal before National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer Bryan Moss.
The hearing is expected to begin at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 15.
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