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Robby Gordon Appeals Punishment

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The Associated Press

Published: February 23, 2008

FONTANA, Calif. - Robby Gordon has appealed the penalties handed down earlier this week by NASCAR, hoping the move will at least reduce the punishment for his Sprint Cup team.

Gordon was docked 100 points and crew chief Frank Kerr was suspended for six races and fined $100,000 after NASCAR inspectors found an unapproved front bumper cover on his No. 7 Dodge during opening-day inspection for the Daytona 500.

The deduction in points dropped the only owner/driver in NASCAR's top series from ninth in the standings to 40th.

Gordon knew the penalty was coming, but he said Friday he was shocked by the severity.

"I hate to lose any points, but I was kind of content with, 'OK, well I guess if we get 25 that will drop us to 16th in the championship and we can probably deal with that,'" he said. "A hundred could be life threatening for our race team."

A date has not yet been set for the appeal, which will be heard by George Silbermann, chairman of the National Stock Car Racing Commission, and two other commission members he will appoint.

Gordon said he doesn't think his team should be penalized at all.

SPRINT CUP QUALIFYING RAINED OUT: Qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway was rained out Friday, with the 43-car field determined by the rulebook instead of laps on the 2-mile oval.

NASCAR uses car owner points from the past season for the first five races of each year, so two-time reigning Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon, who finished second in 2007, will start from the front in Sunday's Auto Club 500.

The Cup drivers are scheduled to get 1 hour, 55 minutes of practice today, with less than a 10 percent chance of rain. But the forecast for Sunday was calling for a 70 percent chance of precipitation.

The drivers who lost their chance to drive their way into the race on qualifying speed were A.J. Allmendinger, Ken Schrader, Patrick Carpentier, Mike Skinner and Burney Lamar.

Qualifying sessions for today's Nationwide Series and Craftsman Truck Series also were rained out.

TRACK RENAMED: It was announced Friday that California Speedway has been renamed Auto Club Speedway of Southern California, joining Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., and Infiniti Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., as the only NASCAR tracks named for commercial sponsors.

NHRA: Persistent rain forced NHRA officials to postpone qualifying Friday for the Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals in Chandler, Ariz. Qualifying is set for today at Firebird International Raceway, and the final eliminations are scheduled for Sunday.

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