CONCORD, N.C. — Story by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — Sarah Crabill/Getty Images for NASCAR photo —
National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer Bryan Moss has officially upheld Joe Gibbs Racing driver Matt Kenseth’s two-race suspension, meaning the 2003 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion will not compete in this weekend’s race at Texas Motor Speedway or next weekend’s events at Phoenix International Raceway.
The announcement came shortly after 5 p.m. Eastern time, after a three-member appeals panel — consisting of — upheld the penalties earlier Thursday morning.
With the burden of proof shifted to Kenseth’s shoulders, upon hearing Kenseth’s testimony, Moss made the following decisions in regards to the penalties issued:
- The Appellant violated the Rules set forth in the Penalty Notice;
- The Penalty is amended to: “Suspended from NASCAR until the completion of the next two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship events, and placed on NASCAR probation through December 31, 2015.”
The decision of the National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer is final and binding on all parties.
The decision reduces Kenseth’s probation period to the end of the calendar year, meaning he will have a clean slate when Daytona Speedweeks kicks off in 2016, but will be out of action until the Sprint Cup championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 21 and will see his streak of 571 consecutive series starts (second-longest among active drivers) come to an end.
JGR announced following the final appeal that Erik Jones will drive Kenseth’s No. 20 Toyota this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.
“Obviously the truck and the XFINITY car are my main focus,” Jones said of his duties for the weekend. “I’m going to do the best I can for them and just to keep them in contention and hopefully have a good race for them.”
Kenseth offered a statement of his own once the final decision was made, standing his ground on who he is as a race car driver despite the disappointing decision to have to sit the next two races out.
“I’m more than a little disappointed on the decision and the penalties to start with,” said Kenseth. “I’m the first driver in the 65-year history of NASCAR to get suspended for an incident that happened in a Sprint Cup Series race. I feel like I was unfairly made the example. I’m extremely disappointed, but we’ll get through this, and I look forward to going to Homestead.”
“I’m not going to change who I am. I’m not going to change what I stand for. I’m not going to change how I race. I’ve been in this business a long time, and I feel like I’ve had a pretty good career to this point and I feel like I’m going to continue to have the respect on the racetrack that I feel like I deserve.”
NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France spoke on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Channel 90 on Wednesday — clarifying the decision to suspend Kenseth for two races in an unprecedented move during the modern era.
“We issue penalties for two reasons,” France said. “We’ve got to punish you for what we think you’ve done wrong, and we have to make sure that we deter somebody else from doing exactly what you did or worse. That’s why we can’t be consistent with every single penalty because sometimes we’ve got to up the ante with a penalty because we don’t believe the current remedy is a deterrent.’’
“That’s one of the reasons that we arrived at a two-race suspension in this particular case. It has to be a deterrent because there are clear rules of the road.’’
NASCAR determined those “rules of the road” were breached after Kenseth came back on the track last Sunday at Martinsville Speedway and intentionally crashed then-race leader Joey Logano with 47 laps to go.
A win in that event would have automatically advanced Logano to the Championship 4 at Homestead, and Kenseth’s frustration stemmed from an incident two races prior at Kansas Speedway when he and Logano were battling for the win and Logano gave a bump to the rear of Kenseth entering turn one — spinning Kenseth out and sending Logano’s No. 22 Ford onto its second-consecutive Cup victory.
A decision on who will pilot Kenseth’s car at Phoenix International Raceway was not announced on Thursday.
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network. Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 21-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for both the United Sprint Car Series and the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: speed77radio@gmail.com
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
Email Race Chaser Online: news@racechaseronline.com
Follow RCO on Twitter: @RaceChaserNews
