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.
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Happy for Jeremy, heartbroken for Sieg. If Cassill holds on and Sieg misses the Playoffs it’ll sting. He’s had his most consistent season yet and still might not be able to make a run at the title. The Playoffs giveth and the Playoff taketh away.
What? A non-Hendrick team having a ruling against them overturned? I don’t believe it. Tin Foil hats everywhere will surely burst into flames! What does Carl Long have to say about this? lol
Good for them! Hope they make the most of it in the playoffs!
Since I live about an hour down I-26 from the Clements family home and race shop in Spartanburg, I consider him a homeboy. Glad he’ll get to race for the title.