As convinced as NASCAR team owner Richard Childress and his driver Clint Bowyer may be that their team did nothing illegal and doesn't deserve the massive penalty it received last week, the odds of them winning their appeal Wednesday aren't good. The National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel, NASCAR's court, has denied 66 percent of appeals (88-of-132) brought before it since 1999, according to statistics released by NASCAR. Only 31 percent of the appeals have had the penalty reduced or completely overturned. And twice, the Appeals Panel actually increased the punishment.
Childress said Friday his 34-year-old team has rarely used the process and is 0-for-3 in appeals as far as he can remember.
"All I'm going to ask for is a fair appeal,'' Childress said. "That's what the appeal is for, to have an appeal board to hear both sides of the story. Hopefully we can present a case enough to know that being bumped pretty severe a couple of times by a tow truck is enough to move it (Bowyer's car) sixth thousandths (of an inch).''
The appeal follows a swift and severe penalty handed down by NASCAR last week after the rear end of Bowyer's New Hampshire Motor Speedway race-winning car was found to be too low following an intense post-race inspection at NASCAR's Research and Development Center -- despite the fact the car passed the more modest trackside post-race inspection.
Having warned the team that Bowyer's No. 33 Chevrolet was dangerously close to failing inspection the week before the New Hampshire race, NASCAR reacted strongly. Instead of being second in the championship following his win at New Hampshire, Bowyer was docked 150 championship points which dropped him to 12th among the 12 Chase drivers prior to Sunday's race in Dover, Del. He is still ranked 12th -- 235 points behind leader Denny Hamlin -- following a 25th-place finish at Dover.
NASCAR also suspended Bowyer's crew chief Shane Wilson and car chief Chad Haney for six races and placed them, along with Bowyer, on probation until Dec. 31. Wilson and Haney were fined $150,000 and Childress lost 150 owner points, although both team members were able to work Sunday's race because the matter is under appeal.
Childress and Bowyer -- defiant and determined during interviews over the weekend -- insist that Bowyer's car was damaged when it was pushed off the track by a tow truck after running out of gas during the victory celebration. And judging by their impassioned comments, this appeal for them is as much to restore integrity to the organization as it is to regain championship momentum.
"I know what we've done to get us here, and we haven't cheated to get here. I can look everybody in the eye."
-- Richard Childress
"After being told that they (NASCAR) were taking the car, we made double-sure before it went to New Hampshire that the car was right,'' Bowyer said Friday. "Who in their right mind, knowing that they're going to take that car, wouldn't have made triple sure that thing was right before it went to the racetrack?''
Added Childress, "I know what we've done to get us here, and we haven't cheated to get here. I can look everybody in the eye.''
And so Bowyer's championship fate rests with NASCAR's version of the justice system. Three people will be drawn randomly from a pool of more than 30 Appeals Panel participants -- all of whom are involved in motor sports in some fashion. Should the three-person panel deny Childress' appeal, his final opportunity is to apply for a hearing with the Chief Appellate Officer.
Ironically, on the day NASCAR announced the Richard Childress Racing fines, the Appeals Panel rendered judgment in its most recent case -- summarily denying an appeal by Nationwide Series team owner Johnny Davis for a penalty imposed after a pit road altercation.
Davis, however, was the last appellant to have a penalty overturned by the Appeals Panel. In July 2009, Davis' crew chief, Randy Hood, was fined $2,500 for using a transmission at Daytona that did not weigh the minimum 80 pounds.
In a hearing on Aug. 4, 2009, the team argued that that the transmission and gear were a standard production design from an approved manufacturer, and that NASCAR had used a different method to determine the weight than the method outlined in its own rule book. The Appeals Panel concurred and rescinded the penalty.
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