NASCAR panel upholds penalties to Penske Racing teams

Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports | USATODAY

CONCORD, N.C. – The National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel unanimously upheld the penalties Wednesday to the Penske Racing teams of Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano.

Team owner Roger Penske said he would appeal the ruling to National Stock Car Racing Chief Appellate Officer John Middlebrook.

"Obviously a disappointing outcome with the panel," Penske said. "It was a good process. We have a good case. I can't make any further comments. It's clear we have a process and I'm better off to wait to see that conclude. All I can say about the process is it's fair and equitable. We had an opportunity to explain our case in detail. We will move onto the next step."

NASCAR issued the penalties after the April 13 race at Texas Motor Speedway, where officials confiscated parts from the rear suspensions of the Fords of Logano and Keselowski after the cars failed a prerace inspection.

The appeals panel of Pocono Raceway president Brandon Igdalsky, former NASCAR senior vice president Paul Brooks and Bowman-Gray Stadium operator Dale Pinilis took about five hours to hear arguments from both sides and deliberate on the decision. The three-person panel was chosen from a list of 49 eligible members.

"We take our inspection process very seriously," NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said. "We believe we do a strong and credible job with it. The level playing field in the garage we believe is the best it's ever been. As the sanctioning body, we have to uphold the rules and regulations in the rulebook. The inspection process we believe in very strongly."

Tharp said the panel, which consisted of those with administrative and operational backgrounds in the NASCAR industry and included no garage experts, was chosen based on availability.

Sprint Cup director John Darby presented NASCAR's side.

Penske attended the hearing with chief lieutenants Walt Czarnecki (vice president of Penske Corp.) and Tim Cindric (Penske Racing president). Competition director Travis Geisler and crew chiefs Paul Wolfe (Keselowski) and Todd Gordon (Logano) also were present.

Geisler, Wolfe and Gordon are facing six-race suspensions along with car chiefs Jerry Kelley and Raymond Fox and engineers Brian Wilson and Samuel Stanley. In one of the harshest penalties doled out in NASCAR history, Wolfe and Gordon each were fined $100,000 and placed on probation, and Keselowski and Logano each lost 25 points.

Penske's final appeal with Middlebrook will be next Tuesday.

Last year, Middlebrook overturned six-week suspensions to crew chief Chad Knaus and car chief Ron Malec and a 25-point penalty to Jimmie Johnson after Hendrick Motorsports lost on its initial appeal of a Daytona 500 infraction on Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet.

Penske's seven suspended crewmembers will be allowed to work in the garage until the last appeal is exhausted.

Logano said last week the team was preparing for a worst-case scenario if replacements were needed for several races but added the team was deep enough to fill holes without hiring stopgap employees.

Keselowski seemed to be espousing a similar philosophy Wednesday morning when he tweeted that "Inner peace is easily achievable once you realize that sometimes all you can do is hope for the best and prepare for the worst. #Appeal."

The Penske appeal is one of two major penalties assessed to powerhouse teams that currently are in the appeals pipeline. The National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel will hear another case next Wednesday as Joe Gibbs Racing appeals last week's penalties from Matt Kenseth's winning engine from Kansas Speedway failing inspection.

Since 1999 when NASCAR began keeping records, there have been 150 appeals, and the National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel has upheld 106.

Follow Nate Ryan on Twitter @nateryan