NASCAR undeterred by appeal setbacks

NASCAR president Mike Helton insists the governing body did not have its power undermined by recent reductions in penalties through the appeal process. "I don't feel like this in anyway undermines what we do," Helton said Friday at Darlington Raceway. "And in most cases the process doesn't come back with anything that really changes our mind much [about the severity of the penalties]. We do our job and the due process exists for others to have an opportunity for others to listen to it and decisions are made to it."

While disappointed in [the reductions of penalties to Penske & Gibbs], Helton stands by the original penalties and says NASCAR would respond in a similar way if faced with the same violations. He added that the rules may be written even more specific in the future so teams and those involved in the appeals process understand more clearly why the penalties were given. "First of all, the integrity of the appeal process needs to be maintained as independent of the regulating arm of NASCAR,'' Helton said. "But we do learn from the appeal process as to how we may be able to write or be more clear so that you can show a third party why we reacted the way we reacted." ESPN