How much do you know about the National Stock Car Racing Commission? Until recently, most fans might not have even known there was an independent board that handles hearing procedures for appealing NASCAR penalties.

To many people, the NSCRC seemed to be nothing more than a "rubber stamp," upholding NASCAR's penalties without fail. But recent successful appeals, particularly those by Robby Gordon and several Nationwide Series teams, have brought the actions of the commission to the forefront. So what exactly is the NSCRC and how does the hearing procedure work?

The appeals process is specifically spelled out in the NASCAR Rule Book under Section 14. It's a detailed look at the inner workings of how penalties can be appealed -- and in some cases, overturned. Each of the six paragraphs in Section 14 explains the exact role of the commission, the steps required to request a hearing, how hearings are conducted and how decisions are handed down.

In addition, Section 15 deals with the final step in the appeals process, National Commissioner Charles Strang, who is the final authority on any appeal.

So who makes up the commission?

Jason Smith/Getty Images

George Silbermann

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The commission never writes the rules. It has never written the rules and never will in the future. Nor have its decisions on specific penalties somehow established a precedent for NASCAR or for future appeals.

”

GEORGE SILBERMANN

There are 32 commission members, representing a variety of motorsports backgrounds. It's a volunteer position -- with surprisingly little turnover, given that there are no specific terms of service. And any open commission spots are filled by nominations from the commission chairman, George Silbermann, who is also NASCAR's managing director of racing operations.

A large number of commission members are track presidents, like Lowe's Motor Speedway's Humpy Wheeler, Gary Bahre of New Hampshire, Richmond's Doug Fritz, Grant Lynch of Talladega, Dover's Denis McGlynn, Steve Page of Infineon Raceway and Martinsville's Clay Campbell. In addition, several track executives from NASCAR's regional series are represented.

Former drivers like Buddy Baker, Harry Gant and Janet Guthrie are on the commission, along with longtime car owner Bud Moore. Industry leaders from other forms of motorsports -- like USAC chairman John Capels, IMSA founder John Bishop and ex-Indianapolis Motor Speedway president John Cooper -- have commission positions, in addition to ex-Goodyear and IRL exec Leo Mehl.

In addition to Silbermann, other NASCAR employees include Bob Smith, director of business affairs, and Spencer Lueders, competition and patent counsel. Former director of competition Les Ritcher is also on the commission.

So how does the hearing process work?

According to the rules, anyone served with a penalty has the right to appeal NASCAR's decision within 10 days of the penalty notice. There is a $200 non-refundable hearing fee and the request must be hand-delivered to Silbermann in Daytona Beach within the time period specified.

If that's done properly, the hearing process begins. Two other commissioners are randomly selected for each hearing by Silbermann, who participates in each appeal. In most cases, the parties involved attend the hearing in order to present relevant facts.

Silbermann is quick to point out that these are administrative hearings, not court trials.

"There's no cross-examination," Silbermann said during a recent interview. "It's not an open forum or anything like that. What it really is, is it's an opportunity for both sides to tell their story.

"And so a typical appeal hearing will start with whoever is appealing the penalty basically telling their story and, within reason, the commission allows them great latitude to do that. So if they want to bring witnesses, if they want to bring comparison parts, if they want to bring videotapes, whatever they need to be able to tell their side of the story. And then the same is true for the NASCAR officials. They tell their side of the story. And then when those are done, the commission members will ask questions of the witnesses."

Hearings can take as little as a few hours or run several days, depending on the complexity of the appeal. And the three-person panel has the right to leave the penalty as is, reverse the penalty in its entirety, or modify the appeal, as it did with Gordon when it removed the 100-point penalty but increased the fine from $100,000 to $150,000.

And depending on the number of penalties, the commission can be very busy at times. Silbermann had six appeals to hear during a recent week, thanks to a number of infractions from Daytona.

"What we try to do when we schedule an appeal hearing is make it as convenient as possible both for the appellants and the NASCAR officials," Silbermann said. "We're in the middle of a very busy race season so you have to find the right time where everybody can be in the same place at the same time and with some of the other testing that was going on for the Nationwide teams it was all in the space of a two-and-a-half day period that we did all five of those oil lid appeals."

Silbermann said even if there are appeals for similar rules violations, each case is viewed as unique -- and intent is one factor the commission takes into consideration.

"Depending on what the infraction is about, what the penalty is about, intent certainly does come up as a question," Silbermann said. "The right or wrongness of it by the rule book comes up as a question.

" ... There were five appeal hearings that were all from the Nationwide Series event in Daytona. Each one, if you look at the surface, had the same infraction and it had the same penalty. When you get behind those closed doors and start to dig into it, we found that in some cases there were different sets of circumstances. So, again, we try to look at the whole picture."

Autostock

The inspection bay is where most penalties occur.

Following the hearing, the panel deliberates and in most cases, announces its decision to both parties -- the appellants and NASCAR -- on the same day. Then the ruling is made public.

So what are the odds that the commission will reduce or overturn NASCAR's penalties? Better than you might think: One in every three is modified from the original NASCAR ruling.

"During the last eight years, there have been 102 appeal hearings," Silbermann said. "Sixty-eight of those, the decision was to uphold the original penalty that was issued by NASCAR, which I think speaks very well to the job that the officials are doing. Twenty-four decisions were to reduce the penalty or in some way amend it. Eight decisions were to completely overturn the penalty and, actually, a ninth one was later overturned by our national commissioner."

The commission also has the right to increase the penalty, which has happened twice during Silbermann's tenure.

If the appellant disagrees with the commission's ruling, there's one more step -- the national commissioner. That's another non-refundable $200 fee, and another hearing presided by Strang, retired chief executive officer and chairman of the board of the Outboard Marine Corp. Strang has connections with NASCAR that go back to the 1950s.

"He was involved in NASCAR racing back in the Carl Kiekhaefer days, and has been very active in the American Powerboat Association," said Jim Hunter, NASCAR vice president of corporate communications. "I mean, he's a pretty savvy guy. And he understands the ins and outs of all motorsports."

"That's one of the unique things about NASCAR," Silbermann added. "Unlike many other forms of major sports is for the appellant, there are actually two levels of appeal.

"If they are not satisfied with the decision that the National Stock Car Racing Commission reaches, they can actually further appeal to ... Charles Strang."

The one thing Silbermann stresses is that the commission is not in the business of telling NASCAR how to run its day-to-day operation.

"No. In fact, let's be very clear on that," he said. "The commission never writes the rules. It has never written the rules and never will in the future. Nor have its decisions on specific penalties somehow established a precedent for NASCAR or for future appeals.

"The commission views each appeal on its particular merits and the relevant facts pertaining to that set of circumstances."