Kyle Larson's Chevy team loses appeal

We said NASCAR wanted Ford to win the title this year before the season started. Ganassi's Chevy team had zero chance of winning the appeal

We said NASCAR wanted/needed Ford to win the title this year before the season started. Ganassi's Chevy team had zero chance of winning the appeal

Chip Ganassi Racing’s appeal of an L1-level penalty assessed this week to its No. 42 team was denied Friday by the independent three-member National Motorsports Appeals Panel, and then again late Friday evening at approximately 11 p.m. ET by the Final Appeals Officer.

Friday night’s final appeal was Ganassi’s last recourse in contesting the original penalty.

The National Motorsports Appeals Panel initially upheld the penalty after an expedited hearing earlier Friday at Kansas Speedway, site of Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race. Chip Ganassi Racing then exercised its option to file a final appeal, a hearing that was scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET.

The decision from National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer Bryan Moss was announced nearly three hours later.

Moss’ ruling means the original penalties stand. The organization was docked 10 points in both the driver and team owner standings, plus crew chief Chad Johnston was fined $25,000 and car chief David Bryant was suspended for one race.

Chase Elliott's Camaro at Kansas this weekend. Poor fella – a Chevy car is not what you want to be driving this year in NASCAR

In the final appeal process, the burden of proof rested with Chip Ganassi Racing. In the initial appeals hearing, the burden of proof rested with NASCAR.

The Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 team was found to have violated the Damaged Vehicle Policy and mechanical repair guidelines (Section 10.9.9.d of the NASCAR Rule Book) during last Sunday’s event at Talladega Superspeedway. NASCAR competition officials ruled that the team repaired Kyle Larson’s No. 42 Chevrolet by using metal tabs to reattach body panels after a crash. The rules state that only approved fasteners and/or tape only may be used.

The deduction of points leaves Larson in a tight spot facing elimination for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM), the final event of the Round of 12. Larson sits 36 points below the cut line for advancement to the next round of the NASCAR Playoffs.

“Obviously, a 10-point penalty doesn’t help, but I felt like with even being 26 points back, we were going to probably have to go into this week and get a win to make it to the next round," Larson said ahead of opening practice at Kansas Speedway. “It doesn’t really mean much to me, the 10 points, like I said just because I view this weekend or viewed it before that we had to come in here and win."