National Motorsports Appeals Panel upholds Matt Kenseth’s suspension

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief

The National Motorsports Appeals Panel has decided to uphold the two race suspension levied by NASCAR to Matt Kenseth following a hearing earlier today.

The first appeal panel consisted of Ken Clapp, Bill Mullis and Dale Pinilis, heard the testimony but came to the following decisions:

  1. The Appellant violated the rules set forth in the Penalty notice;
  2. The Panel affirms and upholds the original Penalty levied by NASCAR.

The second and final appeal was heard by National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer Bryan Moss and came to the following decisions:

  1. The Appellant violated the Rules set forth in the Penalty Notice;
  2. The Penalty is amended to: “Suspended from NASCAR until the completion of the next two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship Events. Placed on NASCAR probation through December 31, 2015.”

With the suspension upheld it means that the former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion will not return until the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

In all likelihood Joe Gibbs Racing will turn to young up-and-comer Erik Jones to fill in for Kenseth for the next two weekends at Texas Motor Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway.

Image: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

About Joey Barnes 611 Articles
Joey Barnes is the Founder of Motorsports Tribune, an outlet that began with the goal of helping aspiring journalists break into and grow the industry. A regular on the racing scene since 2013, the journey for Joey started by covering a Grand-Am event at Circuit of The Americas in his home state of Texas. He has since primarily focused on the IndyCar Series, with appearances in the garages of NASCAR, paddocks of Formula 1, IMSA and World Endurance Championship, while also occasionally engulfing clouds of dust at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals and select Supercross rounds. With previous stops at Autoweek, IndyCar.com, Motorsport.com and RACER, among others, Joey evolved from the singular task as a freelance writer to advanced roles behind the copy desk and alongside some of the best editorial teams in the business. Recognized as a multi-time award winner by the National Motorsports Press Association, Joey currently resides in Dallas-Fort Worth with his trusty four-legged canine companion, Rocket.

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