Penalties likely for Johnson's crew chief

NASCAR likely will penalize the crew chief for five-time champion Jimmie Johnson for infractions found during Daytona 500 inspection.

NASCAR president Mike Helton said Saturday that it's a "high likelihood" crew chief Chad Knaus will be penalized. However, Helton indicated punishment would not be doled out until after next Sunday's season-opening Daytona 500.

The No. 48 Chevrolet had illegally modified sheet metal between the roof and the side windows — the area known as the C-posts — that was found in Friday's opening-day inspection.

NASCAR took the C-posts from the Hendrick Motorsports team and shipped them to its research and development facility in North Carolina.

Knaus has been suspended twice before by NASCAR, including before the 2006 Daytona 500. But Helton said the difference is that 2006's penalty resulted from infractions in a post-qualifying inspection — meaning something was changed on the car after it had arrived at the track.

Friday's incident "fits in the category of prerace inspection issues that we've had in the past," Helton said Saturday.

"It will warrant a reaction from us more so than what you've seen already, more than what we've done so far," he added.

Knaus also was suspended in 2007 for violations to the body of the No. 48 Chevrolet discovered during opening-day inspection at Sonoma. He was allowed to finish the weekend, but was suspended for six weeks after the event.

Last year, the crew chiefs for Michael Waltrip Racing were found to have altered windshields at Talladega. They completed the race weekend, but were fined $50,000 each and suspended four weeks after the event.

Ganassi team signs open-wheel standout

Earnhardt Ganassi Racing signed 19-year-old racing standout Kyle Larson to a developmental contract, putting him on the path to a potential future in the Sprint Cup Series.

The Elk Grove, Calif., native won 22 major professional feature races last season, including victories in the World of Outlaws sprint car series and all three United States Auto Club national divisions. Last fall, he swept the 4-Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway, winning in three different styles of race car — midgets, sprint cars and silver crown cars — on the same night.

Larson is Japanese-American and will compete in the NASCAR East Series next season as a participant in NASCAR's diversity program.

Gerhart extends his Daytona dominance

Bobby Gerhart won his eighth ARCA series race at Daytona, overcoming a 42nd starting position after failing a post-qualifying inspection and passing several rapidly slowing cars a few hundred feet from the finish line for his third consecutive victory at the storied speedway.

Brandon McReynolds, who led the previous 62 laps and was in line for his first ARCA victory when the green flag dropped for a two-lap sprint, ran out of gas on the frontstretch and faded to 11th.

Chris Windom also came up short on fuel and finished eighth.

Drew Charlson finished second, just ahead of Will Kimmel, Steve Blackburn and Mark Thompson.

The Associated Press