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Jeremy Clements Racing successfully appealed an L2-level penalty assessed by NASCAR stemming from their upset win in the Xfinity Series race at Daytona several weeks ago, restoring their berth in the Xfinity Series playoffs. Clements' appeal was heard Tuesday by the National Motorsports Appeals Panel, which rescinded the penalty.

Despite Clements' car passing post-race tech inspection at Daytona, NASCAR had discovered a violation of Sections 14.6.12K&U (pertaining to the intake manifold and the floor of the intake manifold plenum) when the car's engine was brought back to NASCAR's Research & Development Center for a separate inspection

As a result, Clements' win was initially ruled to no longer count toward playoff eligibility, and he was docked 75 driver points and 10 playoff points. In addition, his team had been docked 75 owners points, and crew chief Mark Setzer was fined $60,000. All of those penalties have now been reversed.

In announcing that they would appeal the penalty, Clements' team argued that the deviation actually put them at a performance disadvantage because it restricted power to the motor. The Clements team builds their own engines, as Jeremy's father and team owner Tony Clements is a famed engine builder at the dirt late model level.

The penalty to Clements' team being rescinded vindicates what was a massive upset and triumph for the small, family-owned race team based out of Spartanburg, S.C. Clements opted to bide his time and hang behind the lead pack for much of the Wawa 250 at Daytona, a strategy which paid off when a series of multi-car accidents in the final laps significantly thinned the field and created three overtime periods.

Clements took the lead on the final restart then held off challenges from both Brandon Brown and AJ Allmendinger to score his second career victory in his 421st start. Clements' victory highlighted a night that saw many small teams and underdog drivers finish in the top 10, including Timmy Hill in second, Brown in fourth and Sage Karam in fifth, among others.

Clements' win had marked the second Daytona victory for his racing family. Jeremy's grandfather, Crawford Clements, was the crew chief for A.J. Foyt when he won the Firecracker 400 at Daytona in 1964.

Clements being placed back on the playoff grid has major implications for the Xfinity Series regular season finale this Saturday night at Bristol, as it now leaves just two spots up for grabs for drivers to take on points. Defending series champion Daniel Hemric and teammate Landon Cassill currently hold the final two spots in the playoffs, and Cassill has only a 19-point advantage on Ryan Sieg for the final playoff spot.