The disqualification assessed to Jesse Love and the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing team for a violation that occurred during their win on Saturday at Rockingham Speedway has been upheld after an appeal hearing on Wednesday morning.
Specifically, the No. 2 team led by crew chief Danny Stockman was disqualified due to a violation of NASCAR Rule Book section 14.14.2.I-5.H.
“So, that’s truck trailing arms, spacers, and pinion angle shims, says the area of that rule,” said Xfinity Series director Eric Peterson on Saturday night. “And the way that that rule reads is that all mating surfaces between the truck trailing arms and the U-bolt saddle must be in contact with each other at all times. And unfortunately, that was not the case when we did the teardown on the 2 car and they were disqualified.”
The graphic below shows the area in question.
The National Motorsports Appeal panel, a non-affiliate group of volunteers, heard the case from both sides on Wednesday. This appeals trio consisted of Langley Speedway track owner Bill Mullis, former Speed Channel president Hunter Nickell and longtime track operator Steve York.
In confirming the penalty and upholding the disqualification, the panel provided the following statement.
“The panel finds that it is more likely than not that there was a violation of 14.14.2 Rear Suspension, I-5.H. The panel was unable to determine whether the violation was intentional or unintentional. The panel finds that the mating surfaces between the truck trailing arm and the U-bolt saddle were not in contact with each other.”
Sammy Smith of JR Motorsports is officially the winner of the race.