The National Motorsports Appeals Panel reversed NASCAR’s points penalty to William Byron that was handed down after he wrecked Denny Hamlin under caution at Texas Motor Speedway.
After Martin Truex Jr. blew a tire and wrecked, Byron decided to enact some vengeance against Denny Hamlin ramming his car into the rear of Hamlin’s and sending him spinning into the infield.
Hamlin had previously ran Byron up the track earlier in the race.
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Here’s another look from Byron’s in-car camera:
Following the conclusion of the race, Byron admitted to ramming into him on purpose, but indicated he didn’t mean to spin him out.
He said, “I didn’t mean to, obviously, spin him out over there, but I’m obviously pissed off and just not gonna get run like that. We’ve always run so well or raced so well together so I don’t know what it was all about. I mean the 19 took his air away and he ran out of race track so he chose to run me out of race track completely.”
“And again, look it’s not like it was just light contact. I mean I thought we were going to be done,” he added.
When specifically asked if he ran into him on purpose, Byron replied, “I don’t know. I mean, obviously, yeah. I went to go show my displeasure. I didn’t mean to hit him and spin him out. There’s a ton of guys that do this and go do something like that. I see it all the time.”
“I’m just not gonna get run like that. There’s really no reason. We’re running second and third, I think, and had a shot to win. Killed our car for sure. That was a bummer,” he asserted.
Byron was fined $50,000 and issued a 25-point penalty in both the driver and team owner standings for violating Sections 4.3.A and 4.4.C of the NASCAR Rule Book.
NASCAR.com notes that Section 4.4C that drivers can be docked between 25 and 50 driver and team owner points and/or be fined $50,000 to $100,000 for “intentionally wrecking another vehicle, whether or not that vehicle is removed from Competition as a result” and “any actions deemed to compromise the safety of an Event or otherwise pose a dangerous risk to the safety of Competitors, Officials, spectators, or others.”
The initial punishment has now been amended. The National Motorsports Appeals Panel issued Byron a $100,000 fine with no points deduction. With the points deduction being reversed it has shook up the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Standing.
With the points penalty Byron was sitting in 10th after Talladega, 11 points behind Chase Briscoe, who had been the last driver below the cut off line. However, with the points reinstated, Byron now sits in 7th in the Playoff Standings with a 14 point lead over Briscoe, who is now the first driver on the outside looking in. Daniel Suárez is currently on the bubble only 12 points ahead of Briscoe.
Briscoe is joined by Austin Cindric, Christopher Bell, and Alex Bowman on the outside looking in. Bowman’s hopes to advance are gone after he suffered concussion-like symptoms during a wreck at Texas Motor Speedway and then didn’t race at Talladega. He’s also been medically ruled out for the next race at Charlotte. He’s currently 66 points behind Suárez. Cindric is currently in a points tie with Briscoe only 12 points behind Suárez. Bell has a long way to go to make the next round as he’s 45 points behind Suárez.
As noted above, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course aka the Roval. It is the last race in the Round of 12.
What do you make of the Appeals Panel reversing the point penalty and increasing Byron’s fine?
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