BRISTOL, Tenn.—When the National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel upheld NASCAR’s six-race suspensions to Richard Childress Racing crew chief Luke Lambert, race engineer Philip Surgen and tire specialist James Bender on Thursday, those team members began serving their enforced exiles.
In the wake of the penalties imposed for altering tires in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, and the loss of the appeal, RCR installed its XFINITY Series competition director, Todd Parrott, as interim crew chief for Ryan Newman’s No. 31 Chevrolet.
But when team owner Richard Childress opted to take his case to National Motorsports Final Appeals Officer Bryan Moss and paid the $500 fee late Friday afternoon, he also chose to let the suspended team members return to the track.
So, on Saturday, Lambert was back on the pit box and Parrott returned to his day job—after one day at the track with Newman.
The final appeal hasn’t been scheduled yet, but if Moss rules against Childress, Parrott likely will fill the interim crew chief’s role once again.
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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