Notebook: Gordon fails 500 inspection due to car nose

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Apparently, Robby Gordon's switch from Ford to Dodge didn't go as smoothly as the owner/driver thought it would.

The car Gordon brought to Daytona International Speedway failed inspection Friday, when NASCAR found that his Charger featured a nose not yet approved for competition.

Gordon had to replace the nose, after which the car passed inspection. According to Sprint Cup Series director John Darby, there remains the possibility of fines and penalties, as the sanctioning body adjudicates the infraction.

Gordon announced Feb. 2 that he was entering a "technical and marketing partnership" with Gillett Evernham Motorsports (read more), a move that led to the change in car makers.

According to Dodge Motorsports spokesperson Kathy Graham, Gordon had four days to convert his chassis from Fords to Dodges. When Robby Gordon Motorsports got the noses from Gillett Evernham, the company inadvertently took delivery on unproved prototype Charger noses instead of the Avenger noses NASCAR has sanctioned for competition.

Though Dodge racecars are running with the Charger nameplate this season, they will continue using the Avenger nose until NASCAR approves the Charger nose submitted by the manufacturer, Graham said.

All told, Gordon must switch out noses on 11 cars, most of which are housed at Gordon's shop in Charlotte, N.C.

"In the transformation from Avenger to Charger, Dodge is working on a replacement nose," Darby said. "There's no difference, really, in the nose, other than the decal outlines that complement the Charger more than the Avenger. But the nose has not finished due process yet, so they had to put one of the old noses back on the car."

The fix isn't in

For anyone who ever thought the drawing for starting positions for Saturday's Budweiser Shootout wasn't on the up and up, Kurt Busch is convinced otherwise. Busch, who drives a car sponsored by a competing beer brand -- Miller Lite -- picked the flag that indicates a start from the pole.

"I learned it wasn't fixed," Busch said later. "I never thought the Miller car would be on the pole for the Shootout."

New conduct policy? No one told Earnhardt

If NASCAR plans to loosen the rules of conduct for its competitors, they haven't told the drivers, says Dale Earnhardt Jr.

"What does that mean?" asked Earnhardt, who was 18th fastest among the 23 drivers who practiced Friday afternoon for Saturday's Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway. "Tell me. Are we supposed to walk the line and see where we step over it? Are we going to get fines when we go too far?

"What is it that they are saying? I think honestly they are playing to you guys [the media]; they are not talking to the drivers, they are playing y'all. I think it is basically they are trying to appear to be looser, when the message has not been relayed to the drivers as to what has been changed."

Political ambitions for Ambrose?

The city of Melbourne, Fla., won't have to worry about a term limit for Ford driver Marcos Ambrose, who will be appointed Mayor of the Day by Melbourne Mayor Harry Goode on Tuesday.

The connection? Ambrose is a native of Australia, and the city of Melbourne, Australia, also will be party to reciprocal festivities.