Brad Keselowski mentioned that RFK Racing has made a few minor adjustments and discussed the “complexities” and challenges the team faces under the NASCAR rulebook. This follows an appeal that lessened a penalty imposed on driver Chris Buescher and his crew at Kansas Speedway.
During practice and qualifying on Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway for the Cracker Barrel 400, Keselowski likened the NASCAR rulebook to the IRS tax code. He said, “You read this document, then you have to look at another one to understand it, and when you’re busy racing for 38 weeks a year, mistakes can happen.”
As co-owner of RFK Racing, Keselowski clarified that this is not an excuse. He stated that the team adjusted some roles and responsibilities this week to ensure they are “better prepared and more aware of what it takes to stay compliant.”
On May 15, NASCAR penalized Buescher and his team for illegal modifications to the bumper of his No. 17 Ford at Kansas. They lost 60 driver points, 60 owner points, five playoff points for both driver and owner due to a level one violation.
The penalties also included a fine of $75,000 and a two-race suspension for crew chief Scott Graves: one race being the All-Star Race and the other being the Coca-Cola 600.
These penalties were announced just three days after Buescher finished eighth in Kansas, causing him to drop from 12th to 24th place in the Cup Series standings.
RFK Racing made an appeal and had some success on Wednesday when the appeals panel decided that the team broke the rule about the front bumper cover but did not break the rule concerning the exhaust cover panel.
As a result, Buescher regained 30 points, which moved him up to 16th place in the Cup Series points standings. This position is just below the playoff cutoff and six points behind his RFK Racing teammate Ryan Preece.
