NASCAR set to make crucial playoff decision on Thursday

NASCAR is set to hear the appeal of Hendrick Motorsports and William Byron on Thursday, which will lead to a crucial decision ahead of the round of 12 finale.

A three-person NASCAR panel is set to hear the appeal of Hendrick Motorsports and William Byron and determine whether or not they will uphold the 25-point penalty that was issued after Byron intentionally spun Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin in the round of 12 opener at Texas Motor Speedway two Sundays ago.

The driver of the #24 Chevrolet was aiming for retaliation against Hamlin for “running him out of room” coming out of turn two a few laps prior. He took advantage of the caution caused by race leader Martin Truex Jr.’s flat tire and subsequent spin to exact revenge.

While Byron was clearly at fault and admitted that he intentionally ran into the #11 Toyota, even though actually spinning Hamlin wasn’t in his plans, Hendrick Motorsports will likely be basing their appeal on the fact that NASCAR somehow “missed” the incident and decided to penalize Byron after the race.

Had they sent Byron to the rear of the field, he would have finished in 25th place at the absolute worse, and he would have had several laps to make up positions after a restart.

Because he finished the race in seventh place, such a penalty would have cost him 18 points, at most. Instead, NASCAR penalized him 25 points post-race.

NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Scott Miller even admitted after the race that simply allowing Hamlin to retain his position was also an option, which wouldn’t have cost Byron more than one spot.

Here is what the playoff picture currently looks like after Sunday afternoon’s race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Rank – Driver – Points (Behind)
1 – Chase Elliott – 1 WIN (3,103 points)
2 – Ryan Blaney – 3,101 (+32)
3 – Ross Chastain – 3,097 (+28)
4 – Denny Hamlin – 3,090 (+21)
5 – Joey Logano – 3,087 (+18)
6 – Kyle Larson – 3,087 (+18)
7 – Daniel Suarez – 3,081 (+12)
8 – Chase Briscoe – 3,069 (+0)
———ROUND OF 8 CUT LINE———
9 – Austin Cindric – 3,069 (-0)
10 – William Byron – 3,058 (-11)
11 – Christopher Bell – 3,036 (-33)
12 – Alex Bowman – 3,015 (-54)

If Byron ends up getting his 25 points back, here is what it would look like.

Rank – Driver – Points (Behind)
1 – Chase Elliott – 1 WIN (3,103 points)
2 – Ryan Blaney – 3,101 (+32)
3 – Ross Chastain – 3,097 (+28)
4 – Denny Hamlin – 3,090 (+21)
5 – Joey Logano – 3,087 (+18)
6 – Kyle Larson – 3,087 (+18)
7 – William Byron – 3,083 (+14)
8 – Daniel Suarez – 3,081 (+12)
———ROUND OF 8 CUT LINE———
9 – Chase Briscoe – 3,069 (-12)
10 – Austin Cindric – 3,069 (-12)
11 – Christopher Bell – 3,036 (-45)
12 – Alex Bowman – 3,015 (-66)

Of course, there are several other possibilities if the penalty gets reduced but not totally eliminated.

Interestingly, because both the driver right above (Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe) and right below the round of 8 cut line (Team Penske rookie Austin Cindric) are tied on points, the gaps to the cut line won’t change for the drivers currently above the cut line, even if Byron gets enough points to drop Briscoe below it.

However, all drivers will still want to know the outcome of this appeal as early as possible, so the fact that a decision is set to be made before the round of 12 finale at Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval is a big plus.

The points will obviously change after this coming Sunday afternoon’s race, and Byron getting some or all — or none — of his points back could determine which drivers advance to the round of 8 and which don’t.

Tune in to NBC at 2:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, October 9 for the live broadcast of the Bank of America Roval 400 from the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval. If you haven’t yet begun a free trial of FuboTV, do so now!