Appeals panel rescinds William Byron points penalty, shakes up NASCAR playoff picture
.JPG "William Byron was unbeatable at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March. He’ll be seeking to bring Hendrick Motorsports more acclaim on Sunday at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan.")
William Byron is back in the playoff hunt.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver of the No. 24 car entered last week’s race buried in points, and this week he was staring down the possibility of a win-or-go-home scenario at the Charlotte Roval. That’s in part because of the behavioral penalty he incurred — to the tune of 25 driver and owner points and a $50,000 fine — after wrecking Denny Hamlin under caution at the Cup race in Texas last month.
But that decision was tweaked on Thursday: The National Motorsports Appeals Panel heard Byron’s appeal and ultimately decided to rescind all of Byron’s points penalties and raise his fine to $100,000, per a release from the appeals panel.
The panel — made up of Hunter Nickell, Dave Pinills and Kevin Whitaker — did not offer an explanation of the decision to amend the penalty.
The move pushes Byron from 11th in the field to 14 points above the cut line heading into the Roval. This weekend’s race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval is the last race of the Round of 12 playoffs; the field will be whittled down to eight at its conclusion.
The four drivers who would now be eliminated from the playoff picture if it was decided today: Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric, Christopher Bell and Alex Bowman.
Bowman announced earlier this week that he’d sit out of his second consecutive Cup race after suffering from concussion-like symptoms after a wreck in Texas. That decision effectively eliminates him from playoffs.
This story was originally published October 6, 2022 at 5:40 PM.
