Appeal Committee Upholds Penalties Against Penske Racing

Jan 26, 2012; Charlotte, NC, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team owner Roger Penske addresses the media during the 2012 Sprint media tour at the Embassy Suites Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports

Penske Racing went to the NASCAR R&D Center this morning to appeal the penalties issued to them by NASCAR following their rear end housing infraction at Texas Motor Speedway. NASCAR issued severe penalties to the team for trying to gain an aerodynamic advantage. The appeal lasted six hours and the three man panel made up of Brandon Igdalsky, Paul Brooks and Dale Pinilis unanimously decided to uphold all penalties against the No.2 and No.22.

That doesn’t mean this is over though. Roger Penske said that they will appeal to the chief appellate officer, John Middlebrook. It will be held at 10am Tuesday, May7th and Middlebrook has the final say. There is nothing more Penske can do if he decides to rule against them. Since they decided to appeal to Middlebrook, all team personnel will be at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend. John Darby represented NASCAR today because Robin Pemberton could not attend due to being called in for jury duty.

The Joe Gibbs Racing appeal regarding penalties issued to the No.20 for an underweight connecting rod will be held next Wednsday, May 8th at the NASCAR R&D Center. Earlier today, Richard Childress announced that he will appeal the suspensions of two RCR crew members who allegedly assaulted a photographer and Nelson Piquet Jr. following the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Richmond last Friday. They were each fined $15,000 and suspended for four weeks.