NASCAR: Kaulig Racing will head to final appeal in it's pursuit to lessen penalties further more

Kaulig Racing will file a final appeal after being dissatisfied with the modified fines imposed by the National Motorsports Appeals Panel.

The team announced their plans in a statement posted on its social media accounts on Thursday (April 6).

The National Motorsports Appeals Panel decided on Wednesday that Kaulig Racing had indeed broken the NASCAR Cup Series rulebook because the No. 31 Chevrolet Camaro had a modified hood louver at Phoenix Raceway, which was found prior to the race that weekend.

The appeals panel decided to lower the sanctions from 100 driver points to 75 driver points and 75 owner points. Trent Owens' further punishments of a ten-point reduction, a $100,000 fine, and a four-race suspension were upheld on appeal.

Kaulig Racing's L2 fines for modified hood louvers at Phoenix Raceway were marginally reduced on Wednesday (April 5) after the National Motorsports Appeals Panel heard its case, and the team will now proceed to a final appeal in an attempt to further reduce its penalties.

Chris Rice, the team's president, went on FS1's NASCAR RaceHub on Wednesday evening and expressed his unhappiness with the penalties and the modified penalties upon appeal.

He said:

"From Kaulig Racing, everybody from Matt Kaulig to myself, you know what goes on in the garage and you know what happens. Single-source suppliers and knowing rules and different things is really tough these days."

"I’m not going to lie, I sit here and stand behind my guys. I stand behind everybody at Kaulig Racing that we upheld the rules. We did what we know is legal.”

In addition to feeling that his team did nothing wrong, Hendrick Motorsports had their 100-point penalty for all four of its teams fully removed after an appeal at Phoenix Raceway for an identical infraction. Rice claims that, while he was not there for the Hendrick appeal, he is aware that the scenarios are significantly alike.

Following the National Motorsports Appeals Panel's decision in the Hendrick Motorsports case, NASCAR issued a statement of disappointment, claiming that the points penalties imposed were the strongest deterrent that the sanctioning body had to use to prevent teams from circumventing the rules when it came to single-source supplied parts.

We'll have to wait for the outcome of Kaulig Racing's final appeal, but based on the revisions to Hendrick Motorsports' penalties, the racing team appears to have a strong case.

---

Bristol Motor Speedway's NASCAR weekend schedule

The yearly return of NASCAR to dirt racing at Bristol Motor Speedway results in a program unlike any other weekend of the year.

The half-mile circuit will host four qualifying races for the Cup Series and the Craftsman Truck Series on Saturday. The 150-lap truck race is set for Saturday (April 8) at 8 p.m. ET.

The third Cup race on Bristol dirt is set for 7 p.m. ET on Sunday (April 9). At the end of each stage, the race running order will be fixed, and pit stops will be non-competitive.