RELATED: Official release on appeal
A three-member appeals panel upheld P4-grade penalties issued to Michael Waltrip Racing‘s No. 15 Toyota team Wednesday, severely hampering driver Clint Bowyer‘s hopes of advancing from the first round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs.
The National Motorsports Appeals Panel — which heard the team’s appeal at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina — ruled that the Waltrip-owned organization violated the rules set forth in the penalty notice and the panel affirms and upholds the original penalty assessed by NASCAR.
On Sept. 23, NASCAR handed down punishment for an illegally mounted track bar and suspension infractions as part of pre-race technical violations after the postseason-opening race Sept. 20 at Chicagoland Speedway, stripping Bowyer of 25 points in the drivers’ championship standings, suspending crew chief Billy Scott for three races and fining the team $75,000. The penalties were issued at the P4 level of discipline in the NASCAR deterrence system, which went into effect in the 2014 season.
Scott, who was also placed on probation for six months, was atop the No. 15 team’s pit box last Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway after MWR deferred the penalty until after the appeals process.
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Michael Waltrip Racing plans to cease operations at season’s end and it was announced on Wednesday that Bowyer will drive for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2017, while he hinted that light will be shed on his 2016 plans shortly.
The team announced later Wednesday that it would not appeal the ruling.
“We are disappointed with the outcome of today’s ruling and still feel our interpretation is within the guidelines,” according to the statement. “Rather than continue the appeals process, MWR is ready to focus 100 percent of our company’s resources on winning at Dover and trying to advance to the Contender Round of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.”
With the penalty upheld, Bowyer remains last among the 16 playoff drivers in the Chase, 39 points behind 12th-place Dale Earnhardt Jr., who holds a tenuous grip on the final berth to avoid elimination and move to the next postseason segment. The title-eligible Chase field will be whittled to 12 after the Challenger Round finale, Sunday’s AAA 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Dover.
The three members on the National Motorsports Appeals Panel chosen to hear Wednesday’s appeal were Paul Brooks, Bill Lester and Bill Mullis.