Justin Haley’s points penalty dropped entirely after final appeal

Justin Haley can finally put his penalty saga to rest. On Tuesday, Final Appeals Officer Bill Mullis ruled to drop Haley’s 75-point L2-level penalty for a louver violation at Phoenix in March.

Haley’s #31 Kaulig Racing car and all four cars from ally Hendrick Motorsports were busted for modified louvers at Phoenix, resulting in all five teams receiving 100-point penalties, USD$100,000 fines, and their crew chiefs (Trent Owens for Haley) being suspended for four races. The two organisations appealed to the National Motorsports Appeals Panel in early April, and Hendrick was able to drop the points reductions while Kaulig was only able to get twenty-five points lopped off.

Due to both teams being penalised for the same infraction, many took issue to the inconsistency in their appeals results despite both being handed down by different panel members. Kaulig elected to take the case to Mullis, who holds the last say.

Owens’ suspension and the fine remain in effect.

“Kaulig Racing is pleased with the ruling of the Final Appeals Officer to amend the original L2 penalty issued by NASCAR following the confiscation of a louver at Phoenix Raceway,” released a team statement. “Regarding these unique circumstances, it means the world to us as an organisation that the sanctioning body is working hard to ensure fairness and consistency across the board within our sport. We are focused ahead on Talladega and look forward to getting our season back on track with Justin Haley.”

The initial penalty had dropped Haley into negative points, and his attempts to climb out of the hole got him into thirty-second in the standings. With his seventy-five remaining points restored, he now sits twenty-fifth.

“NASCAR believes that Kaulig Racing committed the violations documented in the penalty notice, that the penalties were appropriate and that the three-person appeals panel ruled correctly when hearing the Kaulig appeal on April 5,” the sanctioning body stated. “However, in the interest of treating all competitors fairly, NASCAR today requested that the Final Appeals Officer remove the race and playoff points from the penalty. The Kaulig and Hendrick Motorsports violations involved the same modified part found during the same race weekend (modified louver at Phoenix Raceway), and with fairness and consistency top of mind, NASCAR requested that the FAO match the final Hendrick Motorsports penalty.”