'Innocent mistake' at root of Gordon's penalty appeal

Robby Gordon on Thursday said that he would appeal the penalty levied against the No. 7 team by NASCAR, the result of rule infractions found during Speedweeks at Daytona. (read more)

"I hope that NASCAR can reconsider when they have all the facts," Gordon said in a statement released on his Web site. "In the meantime, we have no choice but to appeal this penalty. We started the season off on a high note with a top-10 finish at Daytona and we look forward to continuing that at California and Las Vegas."

Gordon

The No. 7 car, driven and owned by Gordon, was found to be in violation of Sections 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4-Q (car, car parts, components and/or equipment used do not conform to NASCAR rules); and 20-3.10A (unapproved front bumper cover) of the 2008 NASCAR rule book. The violations were found during opening day inspection for the Daytona 500 on Feb. 8.

Gordon was been penalized 100 championship driver and owner points. In addition, crew chief Frank Kerr was been fined $100,000, suspended for the next six Sprint Cup Series events until April 9 and placed on probation until Dec. 31, 2008.

Gordon finished eighth in the season-opening Daytona 500. With the penalty, he dropped to 40th in points with 42 -- 16 behind 35th-place Casey Mears.

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.

"In the transformation from Avenger to Charger, Dodge is working on a replacement nose," Cup Series director John 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."

Gordon had announced his switch from Ford to Dodge, along with a new partnership with Gillett Evernham Motorsports, five days earlier and inadvertently had used a Dodge Charger nose that had been submitted to NASCAR but had not yet been approved. Before qualifying for the Daytona 500 on Feb. 10, Gordon replaced the part with an approved Dodge Avenger nose.

"This was an innocent mistake made by someone not even on my team," Gordon said in the statement. "They accidentally supplied us the new Dodge noses that NASCAR hasn't yet approved because of what amounted to a clerical error. It was discovered during technical inspection and corrected before the race. It was not even close to being an intent to create some competitive advantage, and the mistake was not even made by my team."

NASCAR has maintained its position that teams will not be allowed outside the box when it comes to infractions regarding templates with the new racecar. Last year, NASCAR penalized driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his No. 8 team for mounting rear-wing brackets illegally on a Car of Tomorrow at Darlington, and drivers Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson and their teams were flagged for altering the fenders at Sonoma.

"This penalty is way out of proportion when you compare it what happened last year when a team was penalized 100 points for adding a substance to the fuel, or when a team deliberately changed the bodies of the COT," Gordon said in the statement. "To penalize my team the same amount when we didn't even make the mistake, and the mistake was nothing more than inadvertent human error by someone else is just not fair. Other teams who have had similar issues to what happened with the nose on my car were only penalized 25 points."

• Head2Head: Was punishment levied against No. 7 team appropriate?