White Tip Motorsports engine builder Michael Cox issued a public apology Friday to rider Chuck Chouinard for Chouinard’s disqualification from the AMA 750cc Supersport race at Loudon.

“We cleaned the valves in Chuck’s engine with Scotchbrite and had no intention of removing metal or reshaping the valves,” said Cox.

“There’s no way anything we did to the valves gave Chuck a competitive advantage, and he finished where he finished based on his hard riding. We’re sorry that the AMA tech inspectors disqualified him over this. To Chuck, his sponsors and his team owner, all we can say is, we’re sorry this happened.”