The appeal of a P1 penalty on Jimmie Johnson’s team will be heard June 9 at the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, N.C.
Johnson’s No. 48 team was punished last week after receiving written warnings in consecutive Sprint Cup events. That triggered a P1 penalty, which meant that Johnson might have had the worst pick of pit selection for Sunday’s FedEx 400 at Dover International Speedway (which has a notoriously tough pit lane).
The penalty has been deferred while awaiting the appeal to be heard by three members of the National Motorsports Appeals Panel, so Johnson also won’t be affected this weekend at Pocono Raceway.
The No. 48 crew received a written warning after the May 16 Sprint All-Star Race for modifying a side skirt while fixing crash damage on the car.
NASCAR issued the team another written warning last Wednesday for needing too many attempts at prequalifying inspection before last weekend’s Coca-Cola 600. NASCAR’s rulebook states that if a team receives two warnings during two consecutive events, it might receive one or more P1 penalties at NASCAR’s discretion. Last choice of pit stall is among those P1 penalties.
Johnson, who scored a record 10th victory Sunday at Dover, said last week that he and his team “definitely don’t agree with what has happened. That is why the appeal has taken place. I look forward to the appeal process running its course and respect it. I certainly hope for a different outcome once everything runs its course.”
Johnson’s team has a final appeal options if it loses the case next week.