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NASCAR upholds penalties to AJ Allmendinger's team
The pleas of AJ Allmendinger's team to have penalties reduced were met by deaf ears following a hearing Wednesday at NASCAR's Research and Development Center in Concord, North Carolina.
The National Motorsports Appeals Panel instead ruled to uphold penalties to the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing team that competes in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The L1-level penalties were levied against Allmendinger, his team and crew chief Randall Burnett after three unsecured lug nuts were discovered by NASCAR officials following the March 5 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The infractions resulted in a loss of 35 championship driver points for Allmendinger, 35 owner points for JTG Daugherty Racing, plus a $65,000 fine and three-race suspension for Burnett.
The points loss is a huge blow to Allmendinger, who finished 26th at Atlanta. He would have been 11th in the standings following that race, but now is 31st following the subsequent race at Phoenix last Sunday.
Ernie Cope, the organization's director of competition, has served as interim crew chief during Burnett's suspension and is expected to continue to do so.
Minimum penalty options for an L1-level infraction according to the NASCAR deterrence policy, consist of a deduction of 10 to 40 points, suspension of crew chief for 1-3 races, a fine of $25,000 to $75,000 as well as the team's finishing position being declared encumbered.
According to 2017 NASCAR rules, specific lug nut violations/penalties are: a $10,000 fine for one unsecured lug nut; $20,000 fine and one-race suspension of crew chief for two unsecured lug nuts; $65,000 fine, loss of 35 driver/owner points, three-race crew chief suspension and encumbered finishing position for three or more unsecured lug nuts.
The panel that heard the appeals of Allmendinger's team Wednesday consisted of Richard Gore, Bill Lester and Steve York.
JTG Daugherty still has the final option of appealing the Wednesday panel’s decision to Bryan Moss and the National Motorsports Finals Appeals Office.
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