Rick Hendrick and Chad Knaus had a reason to smile Tuesday afternoon outside NASCAR’s R&D Center in Concord North Carolina. The Hendrick Motorsports organization had just scored a rare victory in NASCAR as NASCAR Stock Car Racing Chief Appellate Officer, John Middlebrook rescinded the six week suspensions and restored the driver and owner points NASCAR had penalized the team with after the Daytona 500.
“I’m glad this is over; it’s been a long 30 days,” Hendrick said. “I appreciate the fact that we had an opportunity to present all the facts, and I was happy with the outcome and to see the points reinstated, Chad (Knaus, crew chief, No. 48 Chevrolet) reinstated and our other guys. I would have liked to have the fine gone to because I think there was no reason for any kind of penalty. But when you’re making these kinds of decisions and you’re at a racetrack, it’s hard to make all the right decisions or right judgment.”
The trouble for the No. 48 team began during opening day inspection at Daytona, when the Chevy was found to have the ‘A’ posts out of specification. The team removed and reinstalled the areas and the car passed inspection. However, NASCAR found the team had broken the rules and said there would be penalties. MORE>>>
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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