CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- An appeals committee on Wednesday upheld the penalty that was levied against Carl Edwards and his Roush Fenway Racing team when his race-winning car failed inspection at Dover.
Chase Standings
Jeff Gordon grabbed the points lead with six races remaining in the Chase. He is now nine points ahead of teammate Jimmie Johnson, who was in front entering Sunday.
| Driver | Points | Behind | |
| 1. | Jeff Gordon | 5690 | -- |
| 2. | Jimmie Johnson | 5681 | 9 |
| 3. | Clint Bowyer | 5627 | 63 |
| 4. | Tony Stewart | 5536 | 154 |
| 5. | Kevin Harvick | 5488 | 202 |
| 6. | Carl Edwards | 5485 | 205 |
| 7. | Kurt Busch | 5475 | 215 |
| 8. | Kyle Busch | 5430 | 260 |
| 9. | Denny Hamlin | 5428 | 262 |
| 10. | Martin Truex Jr. | 5390 | 300 |
| 11. | Matt Kenseth | 5372 | 318 |
| 12. | Jeff Burton | 5354 | 336 |
Edwards' car did not meet minimum height requirements, and NASCAR docked him 25 points. Crew chief Bob Osborne was fined $25,000 and car owner Jack Roush was docked 25 car owner points.
Roush Fenway Racing appealed, claiming a jack bolt failed and caused the car to be too low. They argued that the car being low hurt performance, and that 25 points was too steep a penalty during the Chase for the championship.
The National Stock Car Racing Commission said it considered that there was no indication the infraction was intentional, but that the car failed to meet post-race height requirements and "whether this constituted an advantage, disadvantage or otherwise does not alter the fact that the car failed to meet the rules."
The three-member panel also rejected the assertion that drivers in the Chase should have a different penalty structure than those not in the championship playoff.
"All eligible competitors in each NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series championship race are awarded championship points per the NASCAR Rule Book," the committee said in a statement.
"Accordingly, point penalties should continue to be assessed irrespective of a given competitor's overall standing in the championship points, or in which championship race an infraction occurs."
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
Source: ESPN.com
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