The Violation
Before qualifying on Friday NASCAR detected an unapproved modification to the front fenders on Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson's Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets. NASCAR felt that this was outside of the rules and began the penalty process.
The modification was made between the points where the NASCAR template measures the fenders. Hendrick Motorsports position was that the modifications were in the "gray area" of the rules since the cars fit NASCAR's templates.
Immediate Consequences
On Friday NASCAR refused to allow Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson to practice or qualify for the Toyota / Save Mart 350. The two drivers were given provisionals and allowed to start the race 41st and 42nd on the grid.
No driver has ever won at Infineon Raceway from worse than the 13th starting position.
Follow-up Penalties
Today NASCAR announced the remainder of the penalties for the two Hendrick Motorsports teammates.
Both drivers were fined 100 driver championship points. In addition, their crew chiefs Steve Letarte (Gordon) and Chad Knaus (Johnson) were each fined $100,000 and suspended for the next six NEXTEL Cup races.
Both teams were also fined 100 car owner points.
What It Means
Jeff Gordon maintains his point lead in the NEXTEL Cup series. His lead was reduced from 271 points to 171 points over second place Denny Hamlin.
Jimmie Johnson fell from third to fifth in points but remains 366 points behind his teammate Jeff Gordon.
Both drivers remain comfortably in Chase positions.
Chad Knaus has been suspended before and has proven that his team is strong enough to withstand his absence. NASCAR only prevents the suspended crew chiefs from attended the race in person. They can still perform their duties back at the shop and could, in theory, be available by phone during the race. While inconvenient, these suspensions do not seem to have much impact on a team's performance.
This will be big news this week in New Hampshire. However, I don't expect these penalties to have much effect in the long run.
