NASCAR penalizes Robby Gordon Motorsports
NASCAR penalized Robby Gordon 100 driver and owner points, fined his team $100,000 and suspended crew chief Frank Kerr for six races Wednesday for presenting an illegal nose for inspection prior to Daytona 500 practice Feb. 8.
Gordon, who had a week earlier announced he was switching from Ford to Dodge as part of a technical partnership with Gillett Evernham Motorsports, has said that Dodge’s distributor accidentally sent him a prototype Dodge nose that had yet to be approved. The difference is the approved nose has a slightly bigger area that is indented around the headlight than the unapproved nose.
The loss of 100 points drops Gordon from ninth to 40th in the Sprint Cup standings.
Kerr, who can’t return until the April 11-13 race weekend at Phoenix, also was placed on probation through the rest of the year.
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).
Gordon can appeal the penalty.
