No. 33 Truck Team Penalties Upheld

The National Motorsports Appeals Panel has heard and considered the appeal of a P4 level penalty issued on Oct. 28 to Shane Huffman (crew chief), Brandon Jones (driver) and Maurice Gallagher Jr. (owner) relative to the No. 33 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team at Talladega Superspeedway.  

The penalty concerns the following sections in the 2015 NASCAR Rule Book: Sections 20.4.12.2; 20.20.a; 20.4.f; P4, 12.5.3.4. b&d, Penalty Options; P4, 12.5.3.4.1 d&f, Penalty Examples. 

The original penalty assessed included: Huffman was fined $10,000, suspended for the next three NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship events, plus any non-championship races or special events which might occur during that period, and placed on NASCAR probation for a six-month period following the issuance of the penalty. Jones and Gallagher Jr. were also assessed with the loss of 25 championship driver and 25 championship owner points, respectively. 

Upon hearing the testimony, the panel ruled that the Appellants violated the Rule or Rules set forth in the Penalty Notice, and that the suspension portion of the Penalty for the crew chief should not last beyond the current season in this special case, because of a delay in the originally scheduled hearing necessitation by Matt Kenseth’s expedited appeal from a week ago. All other portions of the original Penalty as levied by NASCAR (e.g.; owner points; driver points; fine; probation) were affirmed and upheld. 

The panel consisted of Owner of Greenville-Pickens (SC) Speedway Kevin Whitaker, former SPEED Channel president Hunter Nickell and David Hall, former president of Gaylord Communications Group.

The Appellants have the right to appeal the decision of the National Motorsports Appeals Panel to the National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer in accordance with Section 15 of the NASCAR Rule Book.