CUP: RCR Appeal Denied

Sprint Cup

CUP: RCR Appeal Denied

Clint Bowyer lost 150 points as a result of a NASCAR penalty...

Tom Jensen | Posted September 29, 2010 Charlotte, NC

NASCAR won't reduce the 150-point penalty on Clint Bowyer. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

The National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel this afternoon upheld NASCAR sanctions handed out to Richard Childress Racing after Clint Bowyer’s No. 33 RCR Chevrolet flunked inspection following his Sept. 19 victory at New Hampshire Speedway.

Bowyer’s car was found to be out of spec because of how the body was located on the chassis. As a result, NASCAR fined Bowyer 150 driver points and car owner Richard Childress 150 owner points. In addition, crew chief Shane Wilson and car chief Chad Haney were each suspended for six races. Wilson was fined $150,000.

Team owner Childress insisted the car was legal and failed the inspection because a post-race push of Bowyer’s car by a wrecker caused the body panels to be misaligned. NASCAR’s officials have said that wasn’t the case.

During the hearing Wednesday at NASCAR’s R&D Center, Childress brought an expert witness with him, Dr. Charles Manning of Raleigh, N.C.-based Accident Reconstruction Analysis, Inc. (ARAI) “an engineering consulting firm equipped with a comprehensive testing facility and metallurgical laboratory used to investigate aspects of failure analysis and accident reconstruction.”

Manning testified during the hearing that contact by the wrecker was what caused Bowyer’s car to be out of compliance.

Team owner Richard Childress (Pictured) says he will file a second appeal to NASCAR in hopes of getting the 150-point penalty against Clint Bowyer reduced or overturned. (Photo: Getty Images)

Nevertheless, for the 95th time in 133 appeals filed over the last decade, NASCAR’s original ruling was upheld. During those appeals, penalties were reduced 21.2 percent of the time and overturned altogether just 7.6 percent of the time, according to NASCAR statistics.

Childress said he will file a second appeal, this one to NASCAR Chief Appellate Officer John Middlebrook, who had a long career as a General Motors executive. Middlebrook’s decision will be final.

With the penalty, Bowyer is now 12th in points, 235 behind Denny Hamlin with two of 10 races complete in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.

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Tom Jensen

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