Appeals panel rescinds penalty against 3 Hendrick drivers

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A NASCAR appeals panel rescinded the hefty points penalties levied against Hendrick Motorsports drivers Alex Bowman, William Byron and Kyle Larson for an illegally modified part on their Chevrolets discovered earlier this month.

It was only a partial victory for Hendrick Motorsports, though: although the three-person panel restored 100 points to each of the three drivers following Wednesday’s hearing, it upheld fines and suspensions for four Hendrick crew chiefs.

NASCAR initially hammered Hendrick Motorsports with the largest combined penalties for a single organization in series history. HMS was docked 100 regular-season points and 10 playoffs for the three driver for modifying air-deflecting pieces at Phoenix Raceway earlier this month.

Hendrick was issued a combined $400,000 in fines — $100,000 to each of its four crew chiefs, along with four-race suspensions for the quartet. Although NASCAR has issued larger monetary fines and suspensions, the Hendrick penalties were the largest combined punishment for one organization.

With the restoral of the points, Bowman moves to the top spot in the Cup Series standings. Byron is now third and Larson is ninth. Chase Elliott is out with a broken leg and his replacement driver, Josh Berry, was not penalized because he’s not racing for Cup points.

“We are grateful to the National Motorsports Appeals Panel for their time and attention,” team owner Rick Hendrick said in a statement. “Today’s outcome reflects the facts, and we’re pleased the panel did the right thing by overturning the points penalty. It validated our concerns regarding unclear communication and other issues we raised.”