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Kyle Larson’s team loses final appeal

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Kyle Larson has had a week to forget at Kansas, and his crash in practice didn't help at all.

KANSAS CITY, Kansas — Kyle Larson’s team lost its final appeal Friday night and enters this weekend’s Cup race at Kansas Speedway 36 points out of the final transfer spot.

Larson’s team twice appealed the penalty — which included a 10-point deduction — NASCAR handed the team for improper repairs at Talladega Superspeedway.

The National Motorsports Appeals Panel ruled against Larson’s team on Friday morning. The team appealed to Bryan Moss, the National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer, on Friday night. He affirmed NASCAR’s penalty. His decision is final.

Larson had a rough Friday. Along with losing both appeals, he hit the wall in practice and had to go to a backup car, meaning he will start Sunday’s race at the rear of the field.

NASCAR penalized the team for a violation from last weekend’s race at Talladega Superspeedway after Larson spun and had damage. NASCAR found an issue with the repairs Larson’s team made to the car.

NASCAR penalized the team for violating Section 10.9.9.d in the rulebook, which notes “Damaged vehicle repair, regardless of how the damage occurred, is permitted to have original body parts removed or reattached in their original location with fasteners and/or tape only.”

NASCAR penalized the team 10 points, fined crew chief Chad Johnston $25,000 and suspended car chief David Bryant one race for the L1 penalty.

“Obviously a 10-point penalty doesn’t help but even with 26 points back we were going to have to go into this week and get a win to get to the next round,” Larson said Friday at Kansas Speedway.

Here is the statement on Moss’ decision Friday night:

The National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer, Mr. Bryan Moss, heard and considered the appeal of an L1 level penalty issued on Oct. 17 to Chad Johnston (crew chief), David Bryant (car chief), Kyle Larson (driver) and Chip Ganassi Racing (owner), relative to the No. 42 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team at Talladega Superspeedway.

The penalty concerns the following section in the 2018 NASCAR Rule Book: Section 10.9.9.d Damage Vehicle Policy/Mechanical Repair.

The original penalty assessed: Johnston was fined $25,000; Bryant was suspended from the next Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship Points Event; Chip Ganassi Racing was assessed with the loss of 10 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series owner points; Larson was assessed with the loss of 10 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver points.

Upon hearing the testimony, the National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer made the following decisions:

  1. The Appellants violated the Rules set forth in the Penalty Notice;

  2. The decision of the National Motorsports Appeals Panel to uphold the original Penalty issued by NASCAR is affirmed and upheld.

The decision of the National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer is final and binding on all parties.