Appeals panel upholds 2-race suspension on Matt Kenseth
The three-person National Motorsports Appeals Panel on Thursday upheld Matt Kenseth's two-race suspension for deliberately wrecking Joey Logano Sunday at Martinsville Speedway.
The three appeals panel members who made the decision were Langley (Va.) Speedway operator Bill Mullis, Bowman Gray Stadium operator Dale Pinilis, and motorsports consultant and former NASCAR executive Ken Clapp.
The first appeal began Thursday morning at the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina, where the three-member appeal panel heard Joe Gibbs Racing's case on behalf of Kenseth.
NASCAR did not comment after the hearing, other than to announce the decision.
Kenseth arrived at the NASCAR R&D Center at approximately 8:10 a.m. Thursday, followed shortly thereafter by JGR team owner Joe Gibbs. Kenseth was smiling as he walked in.
On Tuesday, NASCAR suspended Kenseth for the next two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races and put on probation for six months for deliberately wrecking Joey Logano at Martinsville Speedway. Logano was leading the race at the time, while Kenseth was nine laps down.
It was the first time NASCAR had parked a driver for an on-track incident since the fall of 2011, when Kyle Busch was forced to miss NASCAR Sprint Cup and XFINITY Series races at Texas Motor Speedway after deliberately wrecking Ron Hornaday Jr. in a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at the same track.
In announcing the Kenseth suspension, NASCAR left no doubt that Kenseth's actions were intentional.
"Based upon our extensive review, we have concluded that the No. 20 car driver (Kenseth), who is no longer in the Chase, intentionally wrecked the No. 22 car driver (Logano), a Chase-eligible competitor who was leading the race at the time," said Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer in a statement issued by NASCAR when the suspension was handed down. "The No. 20 car was nine laps down, and eliminated the No. 22 car's opportunity to continue to compete in the race.
"Additionally, we factored aspects of safety into our decision, and also the fact that the new Chase elimination format puts a premium on each and every race. These actions have no place in NASCAR."
