MOORESVILLE, N.C.: The National Motorsports Appeals Panel announced Thursday afternoon that they have amended parts of the original penalty handed down to William Byron for actions displayed during the recent NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway last month.
The 24-year-old spun Denny Hamlin under caution after Hamlin squeezed Byron’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE into the outside wall during the Autotrader Echo Park Automotive 500.
Byron’s retaliation on Hamlin sent his No. 11 FedEx Toyota spinning through the frontstretch infield at pace car speed. NASCAR ruled that despite the incident Hamlin did not maintain an appropriate pace and penalized him many positions on the track that also dropped him outside the top 20 for the next restart.
Bryon eventually finished seventh with Hamlin rebounding to 10th, but NASCAR insisted it did not see the initial contact between the two drivers. In-car camera footage was later released showcasing the payback prompting NASCAR to issue post-race penalties the following week.
Initially, Byron was issued a $50,000 fine and the loss of 25 championship driver and owner points. NASCAR said Byron violated the following two sections in the 2022 NASCAR Rule Book: Section 4.3 NASCAR Member Conduct and 4.4 NASCAR Member Code of Conduct Penalty Options and Guidelines.
However, following Hendrick Motorsports’ appeal and presenting their case to the appeals panel, the decision was made that the appellants violated the rule(S) set forth in the Penalty Notice.
But the Panel amends the original penalty assessed by NASCAR to read: $100,000 fine for William Byron and no loss of NASCAR Cup Series Championship Team Owner or Driver points.
In a statement, Hendrick Motorsports said, “We respect the process NASCAR has in place and thank the members of the National Motorsports Appeals Panel for their time and effort. We accept today’s decision and will not appeal.”
With his reinstatement of 25 championship points, Byron advances to above the Cup Playoff cutline ahead of Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Road Course.
The four-time Cup Series winner now stands seventh in the championship standings, 14 points ahead of Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric who are tied for ninth in the standings ahead of the cutoff race for the Round of 12 on October 9.
Before Thursday afternoon’s ruling, Bryon sat 10th in points and 11 below the cutline.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
