Matt Crafton and ThorSport Racing have won their appeal regarding their disqualification from a fifth-place finish at Darlington Raceway, the National Motorsports Appeal Panel announced May 12.
The National Motorsports Appeals Panel heard the appeal, filed on May 6 by Crafton and ThorSport, and made the decision on May 12 to fully overturn the penalty concerning Section 14.17.3.2.1.2.A Post-Qualifying and Post-Race Front Body Inspection Heights in the 2022 NASCAR Rule Book.
Crafton’s No. 88 was disqualified after post-race inspection revealed that the truck was measured too low in the front.
The panel members for the hearing — Dixon Johnston, Tom DeLoach and Hunter Nickell — determined that Crafton’s team did not violate any rules set forth by the rule book, resulting in the penalty being overturned.
Crafton is now officially credited with the fifth-place finish he earned at Darlington and will receive all the points that he earned throughout the race.
About the author
Anthony Damcott joined Frontstretch in March 2022. Currently, he is an editor and co-authors Fire on Fridays (Fridays); he is also the primary Truck Series reporter/writer and secondary short track writer. He also serves as an at-track reporter and assists with social media when he can. A proud West Virginia Wesleyan College alum from Akron, Ohio, Anthony is now a grad student. He is a theatre actor and fight-choreographer-in-training in his free time.
You can keep up with Anthony by following @AnthonyDamcott on X.
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I never saw this initially reported here at all, nor via NASCAR. Suddenly this comes out and I had no idea it happened.
What’s the rest of the story. A height measurement seems like a “GO/NO GO” situation. How could it be a rule violation one day and not another day? I’m sure NASCAR has an easily understood rationale for how this happened.