FONTANA, Calif. (AP) -Robby Gordon wants everyone to know he's no cheater.
Gordon said Friday he 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 Robby Gordon Motorsports 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. He finished eighth in last Sunday's season-opening race at Daytona.
Asked the biggest effect of the penalty, Gordon said, "Perception. Being labeled a cheater where we have not cheated. Where the problem comes into play is with sponsors. When you start impacting our sponsorship opportunities, you start getting into the root of the real situation and we're in trouble for something we didn't do."
Gordon knew the penalty was coming, but he said 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 (points) 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 chairman, and two others commission members he will appoint.
Until the appeal is heard, Kerr will be allowed to continue his crew chief duties. He was working Friday in the garage area at Auto Club Speedway, formerly California Speedway, preparing Gordon's No. 7 Dodge for Sunday's Auto Club 500.
Gordon, who switched from Ford to Dodge during the winter, said his team got the unapproved part from the Dodge/Evernham Performance Parts warehouse.
"It was an unfortunate series of human errors compounded by the very short timeframe RGM had to get their car changed to Dodge Chargers in time for the Daytona 500," said Kipp Owen, director of SRT and Dodge Motorsports Engineering.
Owen added "Dodge has taken appropriate steps in the warehouse to make sure that prototype parts cannot be mistaken for approved parts in the future and hopes that the circumstances surrounding this error are taken into consideration."
Sponsor Jim Beam released a copy of a letter sent to NASCAR officials which said, in part, "Your decision unfairly penalized Robby, his sponsors and his fans. ... While we fully support the rules NASCAR has put in place to keep the playing field level, we ask that you closely review all the facts. Please consider just not the letter of the law, but the spirit of the rules of competition."
The letter was signed by Thomas J. Flocco, president and CEO of Beam Global Spirits and Wine, Inc.
Gordon agreed with Flocco, saying he doesn't think his team should be penalized at all.
"It was something that we didn't build, we didn't fix, we didn't supply," he said. "It was a clerical error from the manufacturer and all we did was install it actually on the race car.
"Like I said before, we're going to jail for a crime we didn't commit. It's almost like you put yourself in a position that if someone steals your car and robs a bank, but because it was your car, you're going to jail. I don't think that's a fair penalty.
"We don't feel that we've done anything wrong, and we're confident that NASCAR will make the right decision."
