23XI, Richard Childress Racing and Trackhouse decide on appeal after NASCAR hands down massive penalties

All three teams penalized by NASCAR on Tuesday for a violation of the member code of conduct during Sunday’s race at Martinsville plan to file an appeal, according to various reports.

Richard Childress Racing and 23XI Racing announced their intent to appeal in tweets shortly after the news of NASCAR’s penalty dropped.

Meanwhile, Kelly Crandall reported that Trackhouse Racing also plans to appeal the penalties.

In the Cup Series, the teams for Austin Dillon, Ross Chastain and Bubba Wallace all had their crew chief and spotter suspended, as well as a team executive, for violating the NASCAR member code of conduct. The suspension will be effective for the final race at Phoenix. Meanwhile, each team was fined $100,000 and docked 50 driver points.

The penalties for NASCAR stem from the final lap of the race, which was closely contested on points between William Byron and Christopher Bell, each vying for the final spot in the Championship 4.

Byron was sporting a narrow +1 over Bell‘s -1. Both were putting the pedal to the medal trying to reach the finish line. But while Byron was losing stream on the field, Bell was gaining it. That’s where the controversy kicked in.

The NASCAR radio communications from Dillon‘s team made reference to “knowing the deal,” then Dillon and fellow Chevrolet driver Chastain appeared to block up the track behind Byron so he wouldn’t lose any more position. Byron is also a Chevrolet driver.

On the other side, Bell made a remarkably easy pass on fellow Toyota driver Wallace, who appeared to slow down considerably. Wallace said after the race that he felt like he had a tire going down.

Still, it called into question the potential ethics behind teams working together.

As it happened, Bell got a little loose into the final turn and rode the wall hard while in the gas, flinging him into position to tie Byron on points and, at least temporarily, securing the final playoff spot.

It wouldn’t hold, though, as NASCAR assessed a safety violation for the wall ride, sending Bell back to P22 and giving Byron the pass through to the Championship 4 on points.

Now all three teams deal with the potential fallout.