Ricky Stenhouse Jr., team still undecided on potential penalty appeal
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. said Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway that he and his JTG Daugherty Racing team are still undecided if they will appeal penalties handed down from NASCAR after last week’s post-race fight with Kyle Busch.
Stenhouse and JTG Daugherty have the ability to appeal the punishment levied after the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro, where Stenhouse threw a punch at Kyle Busch in a post-race fracas near the team haulers.
The team has until 5 p.m. ET Tuesday to inform NASCAR officials if it will appeal.
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An appeal would then take the issue before a three-member National Motorsports Appeals Panel, which would hear the argument and then issue a ruling. The panel has the ability to uphold the previous penalty, modify it or overturn it.
NASCAR issued a $75,000 fine to Stenhouse for violating the Code of Conduct policy.
Additionally, team mechanic Clint Myrick was suspended for the next eight Cup Series races (through events at Pocono Raceway on July 14) for his role, and tuner Keith Matthews was suspended for the next four Cup Series events (through Iowa Speedway on June 16).
Neither Busch nor anyone on his team were penalized.
“I think it‘s fair to say that when you have crew members and family members that put their hands on our drivers, we‘re going to react,” NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Elton Sawyer said Wednesday morning on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “There‘s not a lot of detail I‘m going to get into due to the fact that these are appealable penalties, and I want to make sure that we‘re fair to that process.
“With that being said, and we‘ve been consistent about this, when crew members and family members get involved, we are going to react. That‘s exactly what we did.”
This story will be updated.
