Race Weekend Central

NTS Motorsports Loses Chicagoland Appeal

On Wednesday, the National Motorsports Appeals Panel heard an appeal of the ten point penalty levied upon NTS Motorsports’ No. 20 team, in addition to the $7,500 fine and one-race suspension levied upon crew chief Chris Rice. The penalties stemmed from the No. 20 Chevrolet driven by Austin Dillon in the Lucas Oil 225 at Chicagoland measuring too low in the front end after Dillon drove to a third-place finish.

Following the deliberation of panel members Bill Lester, Dale Pinilis and Jay Signore, it was determined that the team did in fact break the rules. As a result, the penalties were completely upheld.

The ruling does not necessarily mean that the manner is closed, though. Under the new appeal structure enacted prior to this season, NTS Motorsports has ten days to put up an additional $500 in order to send the appeal to the National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer. If they do so, the team must prove that the appeals panel failed to follow the rules. The Final Appeals Officer’s ruling would then be final.

If NTS Motorsports chooses to accept the result of Wednesday’s ruling, then Rice will have to sit out the Fred’s 250 at Talladega Superspeedway as his punishment and pay the fine before he could return to the track.

About the author

Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.

Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.

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