A stunning decision to overturn the penalties of Chad Knaus and his No. 48 team came on Tuesday. The penalties of the Hendrick 48 team have been officially removed by NASCAR. For the second time Hendrick Motorsports scheduled an appeal (after losing the first) to hopefully demolish the penalties and suspension of the 48 team crew chief, Chad Knaus and car chief Ron Malac. Knaus and Malac were accused to having illegal C-Posts on the No. 48 Daytona car after inspection at the track. NASCAR suspended Knaus and Malac for 6 races, fined Knaus $100,000 and docked driver Jimmie Johnson 25 points. Owner, Rick Hendrick, scheduled an appeal to remove these penalties, but failed to convince the jury. Hendrick was not giving up there. He decided to try another appeal to hopefully rescind the sanctions.
Surprisingly, the 2nd time was successful. NASCAR Chief Appellate Officer John Middlebrook was the one to decide the 48 team's fate on Tuesday afternoon. Middlebrook did not remove the fine for Knaus though, but the points given back to their team is a boost after a disappointing beginning of the year, including a crash in the Daytona 500.
"It’s over with," Chad Knaus said, "It’s time to move on. … I was pretty torn up because I felt we did everything in our power to build the best race car we could for the Daytona 500 and take it down there without any problems.”
Rick Hendrick also spoke on the repeal of the penalties, “I’m glad this is over. I appreciate the fact that we had the opportunity to present all the facts. I’m happy with the outcome to see the points reinstated and Chad reinstated."
The Five-Time champion, Johnson, went from 17th in points to 11th. 2 points outside the Top 10. They now have their confidence back to continue the season and reach for a 6th Sprint Cup championship. The 48 team is back!
No comments:
Post a Comment