NASCAR News: RCR to appeal NASCAR Xfinity disqualification (Update)
The National Motorsports Appeals Panel today heard and considered an appeal of a race disqualification issued on April 20, 2025 to driver Jesse Love and owner Richard Childress in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
The penalty concerns the following sections of the 2025 NASCAR Rule Book: Section 14.14.2 Rear Suspension; I-5.H Truck Trailing Arm Spacers/Pinion Angle Shims.
Upon hearing the testimony, the decisions of the National Motorsports Appeals Panel are:
- That the Appellant violated the Rule(s) set forth in the Penalty Notice.
- That the Panel affirms and upholds the original Penalty assessed by NASCAR.
In reaching the above decision, the panel provided the following explanation: “The panel finds that it is more likely than not that there was a violation of 14.14.2 Rear Suspension, I-5.H. The panel was unable to determine whether the violation was intentional or unintentional. The panel finds that the mating surfaces between the truck trailing arm and the U-bolt saddle were not in contact with each other.”
The Appeals Panel members for this hearing:
- Mr. Bill Mullis
- Mr. Hunter Nickell
- Mr. Steve York
April 21, 2025
Richard Childress Racing will appeal the Xfinity Series race winning disqualification of Jesse Love from Saturday at Rockingham Speedway.
The No.2 car was in violation of body skew rules with the truck trailing arm not in contact with the U-bolt saddle in the rear suspension. Love had the fastest car all day but needed to (just barely) deploy a fuel mileage strategy and a bump-and-run on Sammy Smith to win the race.
With the disqualification, Smith of JR Motorsports inherited the victory.
Love also dropped from third to fourth in the standings but is 10 points ahead of ninth-in the tightly contested standings.