RFK Racing have decided to appeal the 60-point penalty that was dealt to Chris Buescher after the recent race at Kansas Speedway. Buescher was allowed to keep his eighth place finish in the AdventHealth 400, but NASCAR came down hard on the No. 17 team after finding a major violation on the No. 17 Ford at the R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina.
The car was found to be in violation of Sections 14.1.C (overall assembled vehicle rules) and 14.5.4.G (front bumper cover) of the NASCAR Rule Book; the team went over the maximum reinforcement allowed for its front bumper covers.
Buescher fell from 12th place and 33 points above the cut line to 24th and 27 points below the cut line. But his drop ultimately helped teammate Ryan Preece.
RFK Racing decision could be bad news for Ryan Preece
Preece, ironically, had been "removed", per se, from the playoff picture himself a few weeks prior, when NASCAR stripped him of his second place finish at Talladega Superspeedway.
But when Buescher dropped below the provisional cutoff, Preece found himself back in the provisional playoff picture as the 16th and final driver above the cut line.
Of course, if RFK Racing feel that they have a strong case, they have every right to make that case to help Buescher. It makes no sense not to, especially after Joe Gibbs Racing won an appeal earlier this year which resulted in Chase Briscoe's 100-point penalty being overturned.
Plus, Buescher's 60-point deduction wasn't the only element of the penalty. The No. 17 team was also docked 60 points on the owner side, and both Buescher and the No. 17 were docked five playoff points, putting them at negative-five through the regular season's first 12 races.
The team was also fined $75,000, and crew chief Scott Graves was suspended for two races. He did sit out this past weekend's exhibition All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
But in a roundabout way, this decision could end up coming back to bite Preece, who is now seven points above the cut line but had been seven points below it before his teammate was dealt a 60-point deduction. What really would have helped him is if his Talladega disqualification had been overturned, but RFK Racing had no case and did not bother to appeal that one.