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Appeal of illegal tire penalty on Ryan Newman’s team will be heard April 16

Ryan Newman

Ryan Newman

AP

The appeal hearings for two significant penalties involving Richard Childress Racing team members have been scheduled.

A three-person panel will convene at 8:30 a.m. April 16 at the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, N.C., where RCR will challenge the punishment for illegal modifications discovered with the tires used on Ryan Newman’s No. 31 Chevrolet in the Sprint Cup race March 22 at Auto Club Speedway.

Deemed a P5 penalty (the second stiffest in NASCAR’s rulebook), Ryan Newman was penalized 75 points, and car owner Richard Childress docked 75 points. Crew chief Luke Lambert was fined $125,000, suspended from six Sprint Cup races and placed on probation through Dec. 31.
NASCAR also suspended tire technician James Bender and engineer Philip Surgen for six races and placed them on probation through Dec. 31. The suspensions include all races through the Coca-Cola 600.

NASCAR has deferred the suspensions and fines until the hearing, meaning the Lambert, Bender and Surgen can work at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend.

On April 14 at 2 p.m., NASCAR will hear the appeal of Circle Sport Racing for an illegal rear truck arm discovered on Brian Scott’s No. 33 Chevrolet in prerace inspection at Auto Club Speedway. That resulted in crew chief Richard “Slugger” Labbe being suspended for three races, fined $50,00 and placed on probation for the season.

Labbe is the director of research and development at RCR. Scott, who drives part time in Sprint Cup, races full time for RCR in the Xfinity Series.