The National Motorsports Appeals Panel has upheld Jesse Love‘s disqualification following the NASCAR Xfinity Series race last weekend at Rockingham Speedway.
Love, who initially won the event, was disqualified after failing postrace inspection, during which NASCAR officials found a violation of the sport’s rulebook regarding surfaces between the cars’ U-bolt saddle and truck trailing arm being in contact with each other.
Richard Childress Racing announced earlier this week it was appealing the decision, which saw Love relegated to 37th and Sammy Smith promoted to the winner.
The three-person panel’s statement following the appeal reads that it “finds that it is more likely than not that there was a violation of 14.14.2 Rear Suspension, I-5.H. The panel was unable to determine whether the violation was intentional or unintentional. The panel finds that the mating surfaces between the truck trailing arm and the U-bolt saddle were not in contact with each other.”
Kevin Rutherford is the executive editor of Frontstretch, a position he gained in 2025 after being the managing editor since 2015, and serving on the editing staff since 2013.
At his day job, he's a journalist covering music and rock charts at Billboard. He lives in New York City, but his heart is in Ohio -- you know, like that Hawthorne Heights song.