NASCAR Appeals Panel reveals decision on penalty appeal from Richard Childress Racing, Trackhouse

The National Motorsports Appeals Panel has released its decision on an appeal of penalties by Trackhouse Racing. Trackhouse Racing’s appeal was denied and RCR withdrew its appeal. RCR and Trackhouse opted to file an appeal of the penalties, which came down following Sunday’s race at Martinsville.

“We feel in the best interest of racing and to protect the integrity of the sport, it was appropriate to uphold and affirm NASCAR’s decision with regard to the NASCAR rule 4.4, attempting to manipulate the outcome of the race,” the panel said in a statement.

The two teams were tagged for a violation of the sport’s code of conduct during the race, presumably stemming from a contentious closing stretch to the race that saw William Byron and Christopher Bell jockeying for points.

With the final playoff spot in the Championship 4 on the line, Byron was attempting to hold a narrow points lead over Bell.

However, Byron’s car was giving up ground to the field and he appeared to be fading fast as Bell caught steam. That’s when the behavior in question that drew the NASCAR penalty likely occurred.

Communications from Austin Dillon‘s team discussed “knowing the deal.” Shortly after, Dillon and fellow Chevrolet driver Ross Chastain appeared to block the track behind Byron to keep him from losing any more positioning on the track. Byron is also a Chevrolet driver.

The bit of racing drew instant scrutiny from fans for potential manipulation, particularly after NASCAR went to replay review to scrutinize Bell’s finish to the race.

Like RCR and Trackhouse, 23XI was penalized by NASCAR after Bubba Wallace (a Toyota driver) seemed to give Bell a remarkably easy pass in a move that drew him level with Byron on points. Bell is also a Toyota driver.

23XI, though, surprisingly decided not to appeal the NASCAR penalty, announcing that decision on Wednesday afternoon.

NASCAR initially penalized each team with the suspension of its crew chief and spotter, as well as one team executive, while also fining the team $100,000 and docking it 50 driver points.