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Massive Hendrick Penalties Amended in Appeal; Social Media Reacts

HAMPTON, GEORGIA - MARCH 19: Alex Bowman, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet, walks onstage during driver intros prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 19, 2023 in Hampton, Georgia. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Cody Williams

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The Hendrick Motorsports team will win back their 100 driver and owner points; $100,000 fine and crew chief suspension still in effect

What’s Happening?

Wednesday afternoon the story broke that the National Motorsports Appeal Panel has amended the penalties Hendrick Motorsports received following Phoenix.

The No. 5, No. 9, No. 24, and No. 48 teams will all win back their massive 100-points penalty as well as Larson, Byron, and Bowman getting their drivers points back. Chase Elliott was not docked any points due to him being out following a leg injury.

The $100,000 fine will still have to be paid off by crew chiefs Cliff Daniels, Alan Gustafson, Ryan “Rudy” Fugle, and Blake Harris and they will finish out their four-race suspension.

You Need To Know:

  • Hendrick Motorsports was hit hard with this penalty following the Phoenix race. After Friday practice, the hood louvers on all four Hendrick Motorsports were confiscated and shipped back to NASCAR’s R&D Center. NASCAR’s claim was that the louvers had been modified and, per the NASCAR rule book, any modification to a part of the NextGen car is strictly forbidden.
  • The harshness of the penalties drew a lot of backlash from within the Hendrick Motorsports bubble. The most outspoken member of the Hendrick brass was Chad Knaus. Knaus made the claim that the louvers wouldn’t fit the car so they had to manipulate them. He also stated that NASCAR needed to have higher standards for their single-source suppliers. With the drivers and owner points being refunded, Alex Bowman recaptures his spot atop the NASCAR Cup Series points standings.
  • Anytime the governing body of NASCAR gets bested and one-upped, the fans are going to like it. This is no different. Hendrick Motorsports is a very popular team in NASCAR (partly because they house the sport’s Most Popular Driver) with a sea of fans. No doubt all of them are very happy with this decision made by the Motorsports Appeal Panel. As for the nay-sayers, it’s the same preferential treatment claim Hendrick Motorsports has always gotten.

It is also worth noting that Kaulig Racing’s No. 31 team was hammered hard with the exact same penalties for similar circumstances. With this low-key victory for HMS, one would have to believe that Matt Kaulig is feeling pretty good about his own appeal chances. A date for the appeal has yet to be set.

The Main Characters

While not technically winning the appeal, this might as well be a victory of Hendrick Motorsports. While their crew chiefs are still gone for a couple of more races and will soon be $100,000 lighter, the team themselves are in a much better position when it comes to points.

Alex Bowman regains his stripped points lead and now three of their four drivers are safely in the playoffs.

Around The Garage

The amendment of the penalties didn’t just affect HMS. Front Row Motorsports driver, Todd Gilliland, now needs to make some points up.

From The Officials

The NASCAR officials released a statement of their own. They’re happy the appeals panel agreed that their reasoning for the penalty was sound but come off as very displeased with the entirety of it not being upheld.

In The Stands

HMS never legal again was partying a little to early. NASCAR just ruined his day with this news. Sorry you ruined your party and your family left, bro.

Carl, hold the wheezer. who is NOT a Hendrick fan is annoyed by this. However, he also agrees that this was the correct call.

Dusty calls for Haley and Kaulig to get their points back.

LockDown just knows the look HMS execs gave NASCAR after the appeal meeting…

Jacob aka ShowmanTheBowman who is not at all an Alex Bowman fan is happy Bowman has recaptured his well-deserved points lead.

Doug Lvey points out that if Kaulig doesn’t get the same treatment whenever their appeals meeting is, it shows that the appeals panel favors HMS over other smaller teams.

carnationTM theorizes that Hendrick paid off NASCAR.

AWG likes that the drivers are getting their points back. Should drivers be penalized for the “creativity” of their crew chiefs?

Kathleen smells a rat…

On Your Screen

Eric Estepp, host of Out of the Groove, cannot believe his eyes! I’m sure we’ll have a full video breakdown soon!

DannyB’s driver, Alex Bowman, regains the points lead! But perhaps what’s most respectable is that he rarely lets that bias out when creating content. He thinks this was the right call as drivers should not be punished for the mistakes of their crew.

DennyDelivers from YouTube knows RFK, Front Row, and SHR feel cheated…

Jett Kraus, host of JettMDK also can’t believe it.

Here is the latest episode of OOTG. Eric breaks the whole thing down.

From The Pressbox

Daily Downforce contributor, Dale Tanhardt, had these points to bring up.

Bob Pockrass breaks that Bowman the Showman has recaptured the points lead.

Matt Weaver comments on this “big win”.

Jeff Gluck shares the statements released by NASCAR and HMS.

Pete Pistone wants someone to make it make sense!

The NASCAR Guy pretty much sums up this appeal meeting…

Couch Racer points out the flawed logic of the decision.

Jeff Gluck comes back to break down the appeals process for confused fans.

FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass tweets the updated points standings for the drivers and the owners.

Wow. We at the Daily Downforce were definitely not expecting that. What are your thoughts? Was this the right call or was NASCAR right from the beginning? Let us know where you shake out in all of this mess!

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HAMPTON, GEORGIA - FEBRUARY 21: Sheldon Creed, driver of the #00 Road Ranger Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series Bennett Transportation & Logistics 250 at Echo Park Speedway on February 21, 2026 in Hampton, Georgia.

O’Reilly: Sheldon Creed Breaks Through in Thriller at EchoPark Speedway

by Cody Williams

What’s Happening?

It was a busy Saturday at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway). First, we had the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race. Then, the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series took center stage and they were two vastly different events. Ultimately, it was Sheldon Creed standing tall in victory lane when all was said and done. Here’s what you need to take away from tonight’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at EchoPark Speedway.

  • There were a lot of drivers who had tire problems which set off massive wrecks and incidents. First, Sam Mayer had a tire go down from the race lead. Sammy Smith got bitten. Austin Green. Corey Day. Taylor Gray. The list goes on and on. Some of them were able to stay in contention while others were plagued for the rest of the race.
  • Speaking for Corey Day, he just had a bad race. First, he sparked an incident which took out several drivers, including the Sieg brothers (who weren’t shy about voicing their displeasure about the rookie) and Harrison Burton. And though the broadcasters on the CW gave him the benefit of the doubt, the later incident was less forgivable. In this incident, while he was battling the JRM duo of Carson Kvapil and Justin Allgaier for the race lead, Day got into the No. 1 Arby’s Chevy, sending all three of them into the wall. This is certainly a performance that he’ll want to forget.
  • Chevrolets swept the stages. Winning the first one was none other than Jesse Love, continuing RCR’s dominance on drafting tracks. Rajah Caruth, who had a handful all race, was able to capture his first career stage win by winning Stage 2.
  • It wasn’t the dominating race for RCR that we all thought it would be. With ill-handling cars, their qualifying attempts were underwhelming, and they got off to a lukewarm start tonight. By the end of it, though, they were in the mix. Slicing and dicing, Austin Hill had the lead as they came around to take the white flag. However, in Turn 1, he got “Chastained.” Ross Chastain plowed into the back of the No. 21, knocking him down to the apron. Hill was able to save it and rally home to a 12th place finish.
  • The big story tonight is that Sheldon Creed, finally, after far too many runner-up finishes to count, broke through to capture his first NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series win. It will certainly be a day he and his team will never forget.

Notable Incidents

Lap 5: Corey Day

Corey Day had a very sloppy, bad race in general, and it started early. First, he caused a wreck that took out Harrison Burton and a couple of others. Then, he took out the JRM duo of Carson Kvapil and Justin Allgaier. You can recap that first incident by reading the article below.

Also Read:

O’Reilly: Corey Day Triggers Big Wreck Early at EchoPark Speedway

Lap 142: Sammy Smith

Kvapil and Allgaier weren’t the only JRM cars to have issues tonight. Firstly, Rajah Caruth was out of control throughout the race, fighting a mean-handling car. He was able to brilliantly save it several times, to his credit. But perhaps the biggest incident involving the four JRM Chevys came at Lap 142 when Sammy Smith had a tire go down and spun in front of the pack. This took out several drivers, including Taylor Gray, among others. Read about that here:

Also Read:

O’Reilly: Sammy Smith’s Flat Takes Out Heavy Hitters Late at EchoPark

Results

Results Pending.

Points Standings (2 of 35)

What do you think about this? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

O’Reilly: Sammy Smith’s Flat Takes Out Heavy Hitters Late at EchoPark

by Cody Williams

What’s Happening?

As Ross Chastain took the lead and the pack was closing in on 20 laps to go, things a little deeper in the pack started to get a little hairy. We had yet another huge crash late in the running here tonight, this one sparked by Sammy Smith’s flat rear tire. Here’s what happened:

  • As the laps were winding down in tonight’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race, Sammy Smith, along with his JRM teammates, were in the thick of contention for the win. Unfortunately for him, a poorly-timed flat rear tire ended his (and several others) chance to capitalize and get that first valuable win of the season. Unable to hold onto it, the No. 8 Pilot Chevy spun around in front of a massive horde of cars.
  • Helpless to go anywhere, several heavy hitters were caught up in this incident. They include the likes of William Sawalich, Gio Ruggiero, Patrick Staropoli, Taylor Gray, Brennan Poole, Nick Leitz, and Lavar Scott.
  • It’s an unfortunate beginning of the year for a handful of these drivers. Luckily for Brennan Poole, he’s coming off a strong showing at Daytona and was in the thick of it here tonight. That shows some promise for sure.

What do you think about this? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

O’Reilly: Mid-Race Report from EchoPark Speedway

by Cody Williams

What’s Happening?

It has been a tail of two races when it comes to today’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at EchoPark Speedway (formerly the Atlanta Motor Speedway). We got off to a rough start with Corey Day triggering a massive wreck that took out the likes of Harrison Burton, and the Sieg brothers. Then, the field settled in and started to churn laps. Here’s what’s gone down so far.

  • Sam Mayer led a bulk of the opening laps. Leading the first 23 laps of the race, he was forced to pit on Lap 24 due to a flat left front tire. No caution was triggered. To make matters worse, he was caught speeding on pit road, putting him down several laps and effectively taking him out of contention.
  • Jesse Love continued RCR’s dominance in the first stage. With Mayer out of the picture, he assumed the race lead, leading 31 laps to win the opening stage.
  • Austin Hill finally made it up to the race lead by Stage 2. Unfortunately for him and RCR, their win streak in the stages ended with the conclusion of Stage 2. It was Rajah Caruth in the No. 88 HendrickCars.com Chevy that captured the green and white checkered flag.
  • In a horrific accident during pit stops, Taylor Gray smashed into one of his tire carriers. It was a scary situation. Fortunately, he got up like a champ and completed the stop. He was thankfully checked and released from the in-field care center.
  • Corey Day’s woes continued as the field set in for the final stage of the evening. Drawing further criticism, Day, while battling for the race lead, made contact with leader Carson Kvapil, sending them both into the outside wall. Also collected in the incident was Kvapil’s teammate, the 2024 series champion, Justin Allgaier.

What do you think about this? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.