Hendrick will not appeal

Saying the penalties NASCAR delivered to two of his drivers were excessive, owner Rick Hendrick said he will not appeal the decision and focus his efforts on preparing for the next Nextel Cup Series race.
NASCAR penalized Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson 100 points in the drivers standings, fined and suspended both drivers' crew chiefs and took 100 points away from Hendrick in the owners standings for a rule violation discovered before the race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma.
"The penalties are excessive," Hendrick said. "But we're not going to put time and resources into issuing an appeal. Instead, we will direct that energy into our internal processes to make sure we have full confidence that our cars will meet standards when presented for inspection each week."
The fenders on both cars did not meet NASCAR specifications. The Cup teams were using the Car of Tomorrow in the Sonoma race and Hendrick said he believed there would be a lot of give and take between NASCAR and the teams when it came to racing the Car of Tomorrow.
"That doesn't seem to be the case now, and I don't think it's the right direction to go," Hendrick said.
Steve Letarte, Gordon's crew chief, and Chad Knaus, Johnson's crew chief, were suspended for six races, beginning with Sunday's race at New Hampshire International Speedway.
Jeff Meendering, the car chief on Gordon's team, will be Gordon's interim crew chief until Letarte returns. Ron Malec, the car chief on Johnson's team, will take over for Knaus.
"In Jeff and Ron, we have two guys who know their teams inside and out," Hendrick said. "They both have been here a long time, they both know the pressures involved and they both have the full support of our entire organization. We don't expect to miss a beat."
Letarte and Knaus will resume at-track duties for their respective teams at the Aug. 19 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series event at Michigan International Speedway.