National Motorsports Appeals Panel upholds penalty to No. 52 Truck team

The National Motorsports Appeals Panel upheld the penalty against the No. 52 Halmar Friesen Racing team after last weekend's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. Stewart Friesen drove the truck to a third-place finish in Friday's TSport 200, but in post-race inspection, it was discovered that his No. 52 Toyota didn't meet the height requirement, measuring too low in the front and the rear. As a result, instead of a third-place finish, Friesen was dropped to 35th place and credited with just two points. Friesen, a winner in June at Michigan International Speedway, led 20 of 200 laps in Friday night’s event. In reaching Wednesday's decision, the panel provided the following explanation: “The panel agrees that the team violated Rule 14.17.3.2.1.2.A. There was a part failure that is not known if it was intentional or unintentional, resulting in failure of front ride height.” The Appeals Panel members for this hearing were Dixon Johnston, Bill Mullis and Tommy Wheeler. Friesen was set to undergo surgery on Wednesday after he suffered fractures to his pelvis and right leg Monday in a Super DIRTcar Series race at Autodrome Drummond in Drummondville, Quebec, Canada. According to a social media post that his wife Jessica made on Tuesday, Friesen was in serious but stable condition. This story will be updated.