Matt Kenseth loses initial appeal; final hearing later Thursday

— -- Joe Gibbs Racing driver Matt Kenseth remains suspended for the next two NASCAR events as a NASCAR-appointed, three-member panel on Thursday upheld the sanctions NASCAR issued for Kenseth's actions Sunday at Martinsville Speedway.

The 2003 Sprint Cup champion will make a final appeal to NASCAR Chief Appellate Officer Bryan Moss. A former Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation executive, Moss will hear Kenseth's appeal Thursday afternoon.

NASCAR suspended Kenseth for intentionally wrecking leader  Joey Logano with 47 laps remaining in the Eliminator Round opening race at Martinsville. Kenseth, who was 10 laps down at the time, appeared to be retaliating against Logano, who had turned Kenseth with five laps remaining at Kansas two weeks earlier while they battled for the lead.

Kenseth needed the win at Kansas to advance out of the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Logano, who already had a bid to the Eliminator Round (the third round) because of a win at Charlotte, was able to keep Kenseth from advancing by beating him at Kansas. The crash at Martinsville put Logano in a deep hole in the Eliminator Round, as he currently sits 28 points from the cutoff to be one of the four drivers to compete for the championship Nov. 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

NASCAR issued the unprecedented two-race suspension for on-track retaliation Tuesday, citing the impact on the Chase. JGR released a statement that it would appeal the penalty as being too harsh and inconsistent with past penalties for retaliation, which have been points and fines when done under green-flag conditions.

"We issue penalties for two reasons: We've got to punish you for what we think you've done wrong, and we have to make sure that we deter somebody else from doing exactly what you did or worse," NASCAR chairman Brian France said Wednesday on SiriusXM Radio's NASCAR channel. "That's why we can't be consistent with every single penalty because sometimes we've got to up the ante with a penalty because we don't believe the current remedy is a deterrent. That's one of the reasons that we arrived at a two-race suspension in this particular case."

The two-step NASCAR appeal process was expedited to have a decision before the race this weekend. Longtime NASCAR executive and consultant Ken Clapp, Bowman-Gray Stadium track promoter Dale Pinilis and Langley (Virginia) Speedway owner Bill Mullis heard the initial appeal. The panel said in a statement that it determined that Kenseth committed an act detrimental to stock car racing and affirmed the penalty.

The case now goes to Moss, and the burden of proof changes from NASCAR having to prove its case to Kenseth having to prove his, though with this being a behavioral violation (as opposed to a technical violation of how the car is built), there likely won't be much difference in the arguments.

If Kenseth loses his final appeal, JGR development driver Erik Jones will replace Kenseth for this weekend's race at Texas and next week at Phoenix. Kenseth would return for the season finale at Homestead.

"We've been very clear when anybody in the industry, any driver or participant, intentionally tries to alter the outcome of events or championships -- that crosses a different line than a racing problem between two drivers," France said. "The significance of what was on the line had to be taken into consideration."