Decision of the National Motorsports Appeals Panel – Ryan Newman

The National Motorsports Appeals Panel today heard and considered an appeal of a Safety penalty issued on Oct. 25, 2023 to driver Ryan Newman in the NASCAR Cup Series.

The penalty concerns the following sections of the 2023 NASCAR Rule Book: Section 8.3.2.A Driver Responsibilities; 14.3.1.1.A&F Driver Protective Clothing/Equipment. The penalty issued was a $10,000 fine.

Upon hearing the testimony, the decisions of the National Motorsports Appeals Panel are:

  1. That the Appellant violated the Rule(s) set forth in the Penalty Notice.
  2. That the Panel affirms and upholds the original Penalty assessed by NASCAR.

In reaching the above decision, the panel provided the following explanation: “We reached this conclusion because it was demonstrated that he didn’t wear the proper safety equipment during practice and qualifying. In the absence of a specific fine for the infraction, we listened to NASCAR’s description for how they arrived at the $10,000 penalty. However, the panel suggests NASCAR establish a policy that all safety violations have a published range.”

The Appeals Panel members for this hearing:

  • Mr. Dixon Johnston
  • Mr. Hunter Nickell
  • Mr. Steve York

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