Jimmie Johnson and Crew Have Penalties Lifted

Jimmie Johnson, his crew chief Chad Knaus and Hendrick Motorsports scored a victory on Tuesday and checkered flags were not involved. The entire crew won their final appeal stemming from violations that occured in the week leading up to the Daytona 500.

Chief Appellate Officer John Middlebrook lifted NASCAR's six-race suspension against Knaus and car chief Ron Malec. Knaus will still have to pay the $100,000 fine that was levied. Johnson will also get back the 25 points that he lost in the original ruling.

This whole story started leading up to the Daytona 500 when NASCAR officials confiscated what they found to be illegal C-Post in Johnson's car heading into the Great American Race. This lead to the suspension which was immediately appealed. Hendrick Motorsports then went infront of an appeals panel that upheld the penalties that were levied against Knaus. The 3 person panel heard testimony from Hendrick Motorsports as well and NASCAR and voted unanimously in favor of the sanctions. This led to this final appeal process where Hendrick Motorsports came out on top.

[ESPN.COM]