NASCAR upholds severe penalty against Brad Keselowski, RFK after appeal
Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s steep NASCAR penalty was upheld Thursday after the team appealed its original penalty in front of the National Motorsports Appeals Panel in Concord, N.C.
The panel, which consisted of three members, Dixon Johnston, Bill Mullis and Dale Pinilis, deemed that RFK Racing was in violation of NASCAR’s rules related to modification of a single-source supplied part. NASCAR has not stated which part of driver Brad Keselowski’s No. 6 Ford car was found in violation, but a report by FOX Sports indicated that a rear body panel on the bumper was altered.
RFK has the option to further appeal the decision to the National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer, Roger Werner, until the end of day Tuesday, but the team said in a statement that it does not plan to do so.
“Although we are disappointed in the outcome of the appeal hearing, we are advocates of the process NASCAR has set forth and appreciate the opportunity to make our voice heard in the matter,” RFK’s statement said. “With that in mind, we do not intend to pursue this further and our focus remains on our upcoming races, with Martinsville up first this weekend.”
A NASCAR spokesperson told The Observer that NASCAR plans to release more details about the violation after Tuesday, which is the latest day RFK Racing can file a request for a Final Appeals Officer hearing. Many in the industry, including team members, have expressed their desire for more explicit information about the penalty as the appeals process has been ongoing while the series continues competing.
NASCAR’s harsher penalties and the latest ruling has set a precedent in the Next Gen era as the sanctioning body cracks down on enforcing a more stringent set of rules around the new car. Trackhouse Director of Performance Darian Grubb said last week that the rule changes and sanctions have impacted the team’s mentality around how it sets up cars weekly.
“We probably spend more time now making sure we’re actually on the conservative side of things than we ever spent before trying to push the limits,” Grubb said. “Because the risk is not worth the reward at this point.”
NASCAR issued Keselowski’s L2-level penalty after a race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in late March, deducting 100 points in driver and owner standings, and 10 playoff points if Keselowski makes the postseason, a tall task given the sanctions. Keselowski, a perennial playoff contender as a driver and new team owner at RFK Racing this year, dropped 19 places to 35th place in the Cup Series points standings after the penalty. After last weekend’s race at Richmond, his position improved to 31st.
In addition to the docked points, No. 6 team crew chief Matt McCall was issued a four-race suspension and $100,000 fine as part of the penalty. As of Thursday, McCall served two races of his suspension, with engineer Josh Sell serving as interim crew chief. The team finished 14th at Circuit of The Americas and 13th at Richmond in the past two races.
RFK Racing was the first team to receive an L2 penalty since NASCAR’s updated its rules for the Next Gen car.
This story was originally published April 7, 2022 at 4:13 PM.
