Penalties Upheld for the No. 48 Team

Credit: NASCAR

After the penalties were handed to Jimmie Johnson and his team for the violation of the rules at Daytona (to see the complete story click here) last month, it was announced by Rick Hendrick that they planned on appealing those penalties. 

Today, March 13, 2012, that appeal was heard.  After reviewing the facts and penalties, the National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel deliberated and came up with the unanimous decision to keep the penalties the way they were assigned by NASCAR. 

The penalties will remain as following:

• Jeff Gordon (Car Owner) will lose twenty-five Car Owner points.
• Jimmie Johnson (Driver) will lose twenty-five Championship Driver points.
• Chad Knaus (Crew Chief) will have to pay a $100,000 fine, is suspended for the next six Sprint Cup Series races, and will be on probation until May 9, 2012.
• Ron Malec (Car Chief) will be suspended for the next six Sprint Cup Series races and will also be on probation until May 9, 2012.

The case won’t end there.  After they heard the verdict, Hendrick decided that taking the case to the next level would be necessary; “We feel strongly about this issue and will continue to pursue it at the next level.”  Since they will be continuing in the appeal process, Chad Knaus will be on the pit box until a final verdict is reached - whenever that may be since the date has not been decided yet. 

Time will only tell how these penalties will affect the No. 48’s 2012 Championship hopes.