The National Motorsports Appeals Panel has upheld Matt Kenseth's two-race suspension after meeting this morning for more than three hours, according to NBCSports.com's Dustin Long. Joe Gibbs Racing has filed a "final appeal" that was scheduled to begin at 1:00pm ET (TWITTER.com, 11/5). Crew chief Chad Knaus yesterday said NASCAR "took a pretty firm hold" on Kenseth. He said, "I'm shocked they came down this strong on Matt.” But driver Brendan Gaughan said, “NASCAR had to do something. You can’t just let a guy a bunch of laps down, whether it's Matt Kenseth or anybody else, you can't just let them go target a leader in a race and do that sort of thing. ... They had to make a statement at some point.” Richard Petty Motorsports Dir of Research & Development Drew Blickensderfer said, “I thought something had to be done, but I didn't expect two races, especially for what we have seen in the past in similar circumstances” ("NASCAR Race Hub," FS1, 11/4). However, NBCSN's Kyle Petty said, "I have heard from fans all week long, 'This is the history of the sport, this is what it's all about.' No, it's not. These guys were not battling for position. Retaliation has no position on the race track, bar none" ("NASCAR America," NBCSN, 11/4).
A TIME AND A PLACE: Logano said while he was "100 percent cool with the schedule the way it is," he would make some changes to the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup. He said, "I wouldn't mind seeing some of the racetracks switch up in the Chase so it's not the same Chase every year and you're not finishing at the same racetrack, just because it changes it up where it's not the same thing every year." FOXSPORTS.com's Jared Turner noted next year's schedule "is a virtual carbon copy of this year's in terms of the 10 Chase races, which are not only held at the same tracks" as '15 but also "fall in the exact same order." Logano "would especially be in favor of NASCAR switching up the site of the season finale, which has been held at Homestead-Miami Speedway in balmy South Florida" since '02 (FOXSPORTS.com, 11/4).
SOUTHERN ROOTS: USA TODAY's Brant James notes while NASCAR is a "Southern-born, Southern-bred series," the Sprint Cup champion this year once again "will not be a Southerner." It will be the same as "every year of this century." Dale Jarrett, who was born in Hickory, N.C., in '99 remains last Southerner to win the Cup. James: "Be it good, bad, another facet of NASCAR’s expansionist aims or a melancholy demise of a regional cultural icon all grown up, it is fact." There are "fewer competitive Southern NASCAR drivers than ever and therefore fewer likely to become champions" (USA TODAY, 11/5).
