CONCORD, N.C. – The National Motorsports Appeals Panel has overturned the points penalties assessed to Hendrick Motorsports following the Phoenix Raceway weekend.
As a result of those penalties being rescinded, the teams have recouped 100 points in the driver and owner standings and will not be docked playoff points at the start of the 10-race postseason. Alex Bowman is now the points leader, while William Byron is third and Kyle Larson sits in ninth. Chase Elliott's spot in the standings does not change since he was not the driver of record at Phoenix due to injury (and was not subject to the driver points penalty), but the No. 9 team is now 20th in the owner standings.
"We are grateful to the National Motorsports Appeals Panel for their time and attention," Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports, said in a statement. "Today’s outcome reflects the facts, and we're pleased the panel did the right thing by overturning the points penalty. It validated our concerns regarding unclear communication and other issues we raised. We look forward to focusing on the rest of our season, beginning with this weekend’s race at Richmond (Raceway)."
The monetary fine of $100,000 to each team remains as do the four-race suspensions to each crew chief. NASCAR had taken louvers from the team’s four cars at the beginning of the event weekend at Phoenix. The team replaced them prior to competition, and Byron went on to win his second straight race. The sanctioning body issued its penalties on March 15.
Kevin Meendering (No. 5), Tom Gray (No. 9), Brian Campe (No. 24) and Greg Ives (No. 48) will fill in as crew chiefs for two more races. Meendering and Ives have a wide range of experience as crew chiefs and currently lead the organization's NASCAR Xfinity Series efforts. Gray is the former lead engineer on the No. 9, while Campe is Hendrick Motorsports' technical director.