Jeremy Clements Racing won its appeal Tuesday (Sept. 13) from Daytona International Speedway, driver Jeremy Clements announced on Twitter.
When Clements scored his second NASCAR Xfinity Series win in a chaotic Wawa 250 at Daytona, it appeared that he had locked himself into the playoffs for the third time and the second year in a row.
However, Clements and the No. 51 team were handed an L2 penalty days later after the winning car was taken to the R&D Center for further inspection. NASCAR claimed there were issues with the intake manifold on Clements’ car.
The win stood, but Clements lost his playoff eligibility. The team was also docked with a loss of 75 driver and owner points while crew chief Mark Setzer was fined $60,000.
However, with the penalty overturned, Clements is officially locked into the playoffs that will be begin after the conclusion of Friday’s (Sept. 16) race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
After the penultimate race of the regular season at Kansas Speedway, Ryan Sieg was 13 points ahead of Sheldon Creed for the final playoff spot. The cut line now shifts to Landon Cassill (+19), with Sieg (-19) and Creed (-32) on the outside looking in.
Stephen Stumpf is the NASCAR Content Director for Frontstretch and is a three-year veteran of the site. His weekly column is “Stat Sheet,” and he formerly wrote "4 Burning Questions" for three years. He also writes commentaries, contributes to podcasts, edits articles and is frequently at the track for on-site coverage.
Find Stephen on Twitter @stephen_stumpf