Roger Penske and Penske Racing made their appeal heard to Chief Appellate Officer John Middlebrook and in return, Middlebrook reduced the suspensions while keeping the fines and point penalties the same.
During pre-race inspection at Texas Motor Speedway, Penske Racing was found in violation of NASCAR’s rear-end suspension policy. Reports have stated that the rear-end housings were attached in a fashion that they might shift the rear-ends of the cars into yaw during competition.
Section 20-12 of the rulebook states, “All front end and rear end suspension mounts with mounting hardware assembled must have single round mounting holes that are the correct size for the fastener being used. All front end and rear end suspension mounts and mounting hardware must not allow movement or realignment of any suspension component beyond normal rotation or suspension travel.”
As a result, both the No. 2 and No. 22 teams were assessed the following penalties:
- Crew chief Paul Wolfe has been fined $100,000 and suspended from NASCAR until the completion of the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship points events (including the non-points Sprint All-Star Race) and placed on probation until Dec. 31.
- Car chief Jerry Kelley, team engineer Brian Wilson and team manager Travis Geisler (serves as team manager for both the No. 2 and No. 22 cars) have been suspended from NASCAR until the completion of the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship points events (including the non-points Sprint All-Star Race) and placed on probation until Dec. 31.
- The loss of 25 championship driver (Brad Keselowski) and 25 championship owner (Roger Penske) points.
- Crew chief Todd Gordon has been fined $100,000 and suspended from NASCAR until the completion of the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship points events (including the non-points Sprint All-Star Race) and placed on probation until Dec. 31.
- Car chief Raymond Fox and team engineer Samuel Stanley have been suspended from NASCAR until the completion of the next six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship points events (including the non-points Sprint All-Star Race) and placed on probation until Dec. 31.
- The loss of 25 championship driver (Joey Logano) and 25 championship owner (Walt Czarnecki) points.
Middlebrook reduced the six week suspension to a two week points-race suspension, meaning that Penske personnel will miss Darlington, the All-Star race and the Coca Cola 600.
“I think it was fair and equitable,” Penske said as per USA Today. “After consideration by John Middlebrook, he felt the fines and penalties were overreaching and made the decision to reduce it.
“It was a good outcome for everyone. We’re going to move on.”
