Kaulig Racing's 100-point penalty rescinded by NASCAR 'in the interest of treating all competitors fairly'
Kaulig Racing and Justin Haley are no longer facing a 100-point penalty from NASCAR for parts infractions at Phoenix.
The team had made a final appeal to get the penalty removed after an an appeals panel ruled two weeks ago that Kaulig’s penalty should fully stand. The appeals panel working Kaulig Racing’s case kept the team’s entire penalty intact a week after a different appeals panel removed a 100-point penalty for each of Hendrick Motorsports’ four cars for the same hood louver violation found on Haley's No. 31 car at Phoenix in March.
NASCAR said Tuesday that it had asked final appeals officer Bill Mullis to rescind Kaulig’s points penalty to make it mimic the Hendrick penalty in the interest of fairness.
“NASCAR believes that Kaulig Racing committed the violations documented in the penalty notice, that the penalties were appropriate and that the three-person appeal panel ruled correctly when hearing the Kaulig appeal on April 5,” NASCAR said in a statement. “However, in the interest of treating all competitors fairly, NASCAR today requested that the final appeals officer remove the race and playoff points from the penalty.
“The Kaulig and Hendrick Motorsports violations involved the same modified part found during the same race weekend and with fairness and consistency top of mind, NASCAR requested that the FAO match the final Hendrick Motorsports penalty. NASCAR believes that the updates made to the rule book will address similar issues in the future and keep its promise to the owners for strict penalties when single-source parts are modified.”
Kaulig said it was "pleased" with the ruling and request.
Regarding today's final appeal result:
For more information please visit: https://t.co/3O0a0Ovenzpic.twitter.com/BTLksRk8ts— Kaulig Racing (@KauligRacing) April 18, 2023
In addition to a 100-point penalty, Haley was also facing the loss of 10 playoff points if he qualified for the postseason. That 10-point playoff penalty was also removed from all four of Hendrick’s cars by its appeals panel.
The Hendrick appeals panel kept $100,000 fines and four-race crew chief suspensions for each of the cars intact, however. The fine and crew chief suspension also remains for Kaulig.
Shortly after the Hendrick ruling, NASCAR updated its rule book to prevent appeals panels from entirely removing part of a penalty like the Hendrick appeals panel did. Appeals panels can reduce penalties or overturn them in their entirety, but they can no longer rescind part of a penalty.
The reinstatement of the 100-point penalty means Haley moves from 32nd in the standings to 24th and now has 170 points.
