William Byron points penalty rescinded by appeals panel

Byron, the driver of Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 24 Chevrolet, had originally been fined $50,000 and docked 25 driver and owner points for retaliating against Denny Hamlin under caution in the Sept. 25 race at Texas Motor Speedway.

After a hearing on Thursday afternoon, the panel – which consisted of Hunter Nickell, Dale Pinilis and Kevin Whitaker – elected to double Byron’s fine to $100,000 but rescinded the 25-point penalty.

The panel altered only the penalty, confirming the driver did violate Section 4.3 NASCAR Member Conduct and 4.4 NASCAR Member Code of Conduct.

The panel offered no explanation of its decision to alter the penalty.

With the restoration of the points, Byron now enters Sunday’s race at the Charlotte Roval 14 points above the cutline to advance to semifinal round of the playoffs.

Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric, Christopher Bell and Alex Bowman are now the four drivers lowest in points and in danger of elimination following Sunday’s race.

Bowman will not advance in the driver playoffs as he will miss his second consecutive race recovering from symptoms of a concussion.