NASCAR has scheduled a date to hear an appeal made by RFK Racing concerning the L2-level penalty imposed on the team and driver Brad Keselowski last week.
Officials confirmed on Monday that three members from the National Motorsports Appeals Panel will meet to consider the appeal on April 7. Motor sports journalist Bob Pockrass shared the news on Twitter by stating that:
“The RFK appeal on the Brad Keselowski penalty from last week has been scheduled for April 7 (Thursday next week).”
Keselowski and his team were penalized after NASCAR discovered that the team had modified a single source supplied part of Atlanta. Later the next day, the RFK Racing team filed an appeal against the penalty and shared a statement on Twitter.
The penalties include docking Keselowski 100 driver points in the standings and 10 playoff points. In addition, 100 owner points were deducted, and crew chief Matt McCall was fined $100,000 and suspended for the next four Cup Series races.
The penalty caused Keselowski to plummet from 16th place on the points table standings to 35th.
The driver moved up to 34th after his 14th place finish at the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. To qualify for the playoffs, he needs to finish in the top-30 with a win by the end of the regular season.
Ryan Blaney talks about penalties handed to RFK Racing by NASCAR
Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney has spoken about the issue of RFK Racing being penalized. He feels that they have been punished for what they have done.
During an interview with the media, when asked about the huge penalty handed to RFK, Blaney said:
“Honestly, I think that is the way they need to be. If you are doing something funky and wrong, how is anyone going to learn if you don’t put the smackdown on them? It is nothing against those guys at all. I think that is the way you should do it. I hate it for Brad Keselowski and all of them. It is a pretty severe penalty. Hopefully, we stay clear of that.”
NASCAR introduced the penalty structure before the start of the season with the advent of Next Gen cars. However, the Next Gen car came with new rules which are more severe than expected.