MORE: Official release on decision | Kenseth suspended for two races
CONCORD, N.C. -- Matt Kenseth's suspension from NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition was upheld Thursday after a final appeal, keeping him on the sidelines for the next two races.
The ruling issued by National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer Bryan Moss at the NASCAR Research & Development Center will keep Kenseth out of NASCAR events the next two weekends, at Texas this Sunday and at Phoenix the next.
Erik Jones will drive the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at Texas, according to a Joe Gibbs Racing official.
RELATED: Jones to fill in for Kenseth at Texas
Moss made one amendment to the penalty, reducing the original six-month probation period to run through Dec. 31.
Moss' decision comes after a three-member panel upheld Kenseth's behavioral penalties -- stemming from his on-track fracas with rival Joey Logano last weekend at Martinsville Speedway -- during Thursday's initial appeals hearing.
Both Kenseth and team owner Joe Gibbs made brief statements after Moss' ruling, expressing displeasure with what they termed unprecedented penalties.
"Obviously, I'm more than a little disappointed with the decision and the penalties to start with," Kenseth said. "A couple of facts, which I'm sure you guys will find -- I'm the first driver in the 65-year history of NASCAR to get suspended for an incident that happened in the Sprint Cup Series race, so I feel like I was unfairly made the example instead of knowing where the line is, what the penalties are."
Gibbs, speaking in almost hushed tones after his Kenseth's remarks, shared his driver's sentiments.
"I just wanted to say, that guy right there has spent 20 years in this sport. He had one other minor infraction, I think it was a $5,000 fine," Gibbs said. "He has spent 20 years of his life racing in this sport and he's been great for NASCAR. Our reason for appealing is we felt like this penalty was kind of unprecedented and it was inconsistent with a number of other on-track incidents. One of those is exactly like this one, and yet this penalty against Matt is an unprecedented one.
"I appreciate getting the chance to go through this process. I think we've done all we can do, and we're going to go back to racing."
RELATED: Kenseth, Gibbs react to final ruling
Moss' ruling is final. The burden of proof rested with Kenseth for the final appeal. In the first hearing, the burden of proof was NASCAR's responsibility.
Earlier Thursday, the National Motorsports Appeals Panel ruled that Kenseth did not provide sufficient evidence to overturn his suspension or six-month probation for the on-track incident. The rotating three-member panel for the initial hearing was composed of Ken Clapp, NASCAR's vice president of marketing development until his retirement in 1999; Bill Mullis, a former driver and the owner of Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va.; and Dale Pinilis, longtime operator of historic Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The final appeal was only the third hearing overseen by Moss, a former Gulfstream Aerospace executive who joined the NASCAR appeals process last year. Moss also heard the final appeal for behavioral penalties against driver Kurt Busch in February, and the last appeal for technical penalties against Richard Childress Racing's No. 31 team in May. Moss upheld the decision of the three-member panel in both instances.
The ruling means Kenseth will be eligible to return to competition for the Nov. 22 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where champions in all three NASCAR national series will be crowned.
"I'm extremely disappointed but we'll get through this," said Kenseth, the 2003 premier-series champion. "Look forward to going to Homestead. I'm not going to change who I am. I'm not going to change what I stand for. I'm not going to change how I race. I've been in this business for a long time. I feel like I've had a pretty good career to this point, and I feel like I'm going to continue to have the respect on the race track that I feel like I deserve. So I'm looking forward to going to Homestead, hopefully going there and getting a win before the year is out."
Kenseth offered a smile as he arrived at the R&D Center on Thursday morning at approximately 8:10 a.m. ET, followed minutes later by team owner Joe Gibbs for the 9 a.m. hearing.
RELATED: France explains reasoning behind penalty
On Tuesday, NASCAR suspended Kenseth for the next two races in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs for his role in a crash with Logano in the late stages of Sunday's race at Martinsville Speedway. Kenseth was also placed on probation for six months.
Kenseth's Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota, several laps down, made heavy contact with Logano's race-leading Team Penske No. 22 Ford, sending both cars into the Turn 1 wall. NASCAR competition officials parked Kenseth for the remainder of the Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500. Kenseth, Gibbs and No. 20 crew chief Jason Ratcliff were each summoned to the NASCAR officials' hauler for post-race consultation.
Kenseth was eliminated from championship eligibility during the three-race Contender Round in large part because of an on-track run-in with Logano at Kansas Speedway on Oct. 18. Contact from Logano nudged race leader Kenseth into a late-race spin, ending his bid for an automatic berth in the Chase's next round.
WHAT TRANSPIRED: Kansas | Martinsville
Kenseth expressed frustration at Logano's unapologetic stance after the incident, saying he "should have stopped running his mouth, A, and No. 2, he's lying when he said he didn't do it on purpose." Kenseth's irritation mounted in the two races that followed -- at Talladega, when Logano hindered his entry to pit road during a mid-race stop; and at Martinsville as Logano and teammate Brad Keselowski orchestrated their maneuvers in a series of mid-race restarts.
The Penske drivers' arrangement on restarts was partially to blame for a crash with 65 laps remaining, bottling up the front-runners and snaring Kenseth, Keselowski and Kurt Busch with the most damage. Kenseth's No. 20 returned to the track after repairs, running at reduced pace before his wreck with Logano at the front of the field.
Joe Gibbs Racing released a statement shortly after Tuesday's penalty was issued, saying Kenseth would appeal the severity of the punishment.