NASCAR reduces penalty for Brian Scott's crew chief

Brian Scott's Number 33 team Circle Sporting Racing had their penalties reduced from P4 to P2 by NASCAR on Tuesday.

Last month, Scott's crew chief Slugger Labbe was fined $50,000 and suspended three Sprint Cup races after three inspection infractions were discovered during an opening day inspection on March 20 at Auto Club Speedway.

The original P4 penalty assessed also included probation through December 31 to Labbe and the loss of 25 championship car owner points to Joseph Falk.

Following an appeals hearing before a three-member panel on Tuesday, NASCAR downgraded the penalty to P2 and ruled that Falk will lose 10 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion points instead of 25, and Labbe's fine was reduced from $50,000 to $20,000. He will be suspended for one more race.

Labbe will be under NASCAR probation till the end of the year, joining Ryan Newman's crew chief Luke Lambert, and Brad Keselowski's crew chief, Paul Wolfe, as team leaders on probation throughout 2015.