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.
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.