National Motorsports Appeals Panel Amends L1 Penalty to RFK, Buescher

On Wednesday, the National Motorsports Appeals Panel heard RFK Racing's appeal for violations found with the team's No. 17 Ford Mustang Dark Horse, which was driven by Chris Buescher at Kansas Speedway earlier this month.

While the appeals panel determined that the No. 17 RFK Racing team did violate the NASCAR Cup Series Rule Book, the panel opted to amend the penalties assessed to Buescher and the No. 17 RFK Racing team after concluding the team only violated one of the two rules they were accused of breaking.

Heading into the appeal, the team and driver were docked 60 championship points, five Playoff Points, crew chief Scott Graves was suspended for two races, and the team was issued a $75,000 fine.

Following the appeal, the team will still lose five Playoff Points, Graves' two-race suspension remains intact, and the $75,000 fine will be unchanged. However, the championship driver and championship owner point deduction will be decreased from 60 points to 30 points.

The reason for the amendment in the penalties is that the appeals panel was able to determine that RFK Racing did violate sections 14.1.C and 14.5.4.G of the NASCAR Cup Series Rule Book, which pertained to the Front Bumper Cover violations on the No. 17 car, but the panel concluded that the No. 17 team did not violate Sections 14.1.2.B of the NASCAR Cup Series Rule Book, which pertains to the Exhaust Cover Panel on the No. 17 car.

The National Motorsports Appeals Panel issued a statement explaining its decision:

“The panel concluded that NASCAR met its burden of proof regarding the reinforcement of the front bumper cover but did not meet it regarding the trimming of the exhaust panel cover. The rule book regarding the exhaust panel trimming lacked specificity on the amount trimmed or not trimmed. Accordingly, the Panel reduced the owner and driver points penalty from 60 to 30 points,” the statement from the panel stated.

The members of the Appeals Panel, who heard RFK Racing's appeal on Wednesday were Tom DeLoach, Cary Tharrington, and Kevin Whitaker.

With 30 of the 60 points restored to Buescher's season total, the driver of the No. 17 RFK Racing Ford Mustang will move from 23rd in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings up to 16th.

Buescher will head into this weekend's Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway six points outside of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff cutline. Buescher's RFK Racing teammate Ryan Preece currently holds the 16th and final spot inside the Playoff field with 13 races remaining in the regular-season.

The initial penalties were handed down to the RFK Racing team on Thursday, May 15. Four days later, the team opted to pursue the appeal.

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