The drama doesn’t seem to come to an end. The National Motorsports Appeals Panel drastically rescinded the penalty imposed on Hendrick Motorsports last week. The 100-point penalty along with the 10-point playoff penalty for each HMS team was taken away. However, despite facing a similar punishment for the same violation, Kaulig Racing’s penalty was upheld. Obviously, this did not go down well with the fans. However, the recent comments from the NASCAR Chief Operating Officer must pacify them, somewhat.
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The NASCAR Cup Series has already seen plenty of theatrics in regard to penalties and cautions this season. Obviously, such controversial decisions from the appeals panel aren’t doing any favor to the governing body. Having said that, the NASCAR COO’s eye-opening statement concerning the recent verdicts brings a breath of fresh air.
Fans side with NASCAR authority as he accepts inconsistency in ruling following the Kaulig Racing fiasco
The fact that Hendrick Motorsports got away with just a monetary and suspension fine despite having eight hood louvers modified in comparison to Kaulig Racing’s one louver, was enraging for plenty. More importantly, this comes at a time when NASCAR has already struggled to be consistent with its decisions.
This does make one question how the appeal panel functions. And while this looks unfair from a neutral point of view, NASCAR’s Chief Operating Officer Steve O’Donnell had his say. He confirmed on NASCAR Race Hub how the difference in the outcome of HMS and Kaulig Racing has given a bad look to the sport.
He made it clear NASCAR still believes both penalties should've been upheld as they were. #NASCAR
— Noah Lewis (@Noah_Lewis1) April 6, 2023
He said, “We agree, we can only be consistent with our rulings…” O’Donnell also clarified that as per him, both HMS and Kaulig Racing’s penalty should have been upheld. It is not often that fans agree with NASCAR these days, but in this case, they did.
To the COO statements, some of them, on Reddit, said,
NASCAR left in shock following the appeal panel’s contrasting ruling amid the Kaulig Racing fiasco
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