NASCAR took a victory away from Peyton Sellers, who was found to have an illegal shock during post-race inspection Saturday at Greenville Pickens Speedway for the season-opening Camping World East Series race in Easely, S.C..

This is the first time NASCAR has taken away a win in the series after a points race because of a rules violation. Austin Dillon was declared the winner.

“Needless to say we are shocked and disappointed,” said ASM owner Andy Santerre, whose car was driven by Sellers. “We are being made an example. We admit there was a rules infraction, it was a shock to us as much as it was unintentional and unknown prior to post-race inspection. We conceded that and worked with NASCAR to make sure it was not found in any of the other shocks or on the second ASM car. It was not. We understood there would be ramifications, but to go against past precedent and take the win is disappointing.”

Santerre continues, “The one thing we know in the NCWES is if we finish in the top-5, which for ASM, is about every week, the tranny, the rear gear and the shocks are coming apart. It would be stupid to do something that blatant intentionally when we know it will be checked. Santerre explains, “We built shocks for a team last year and bought them back at the end of last year. We dynoed them and they seemed the same as when we built them. We tested all four shocks on the car at Greenville, but to make the car better, we changed three of them, but one of the shocks stayed on the car. It was this shock that was illegal.”

I never truly know what to believe when a team is found to be in violation of something after the race. Did they intentionally cheat? I just don't know. I may be a bit naive in that area ...

So if you watch that delayed "comprehensive coverage" of the race at Greenville Pickens Speedway on May 7, keep in mind the winner of the race isn't really the winner.

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