Kevin Harvick and Todd Berrier. Credit: Autostock

Commission denies Berrier's suspension appeal

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The National Stock Car Racing Commission on Tuesday rejected Richard Childress Racing's appeal of penalties that were assessed to the owner, driver Kevin Harvick and crew chief Todd Berrier following the March 13 Nextel Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

On March 15, NASCAR announced Berrier had been suspended for four races and fined $25,000 -- in addition to 25-point deductions to both Goodwrench Chevrolet driver Harvick and Childress, the No. 29 car's owner -- for a fuel cell system that was doctored prior to qualifying to appear full when it was not.

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Harvick initially qualified fourth for the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 but his time was disallowed. He started the race 42nd based on Childress' 2004 owner points and came back in the race to finish fifth.

Following the March 20 Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta, the team's penalties left Harvick 11th in the driver standings, 13 points behind eighth place Elliott Sadler; and Childress in the same position -- 11th -- in the owner standings.

Although Childress had Berrier serve the first race of his suspension two weeks ago during the Atlanta weekend, he appealed the severity of the penalty.

With the rejection Tuesday by the commission, which consisted of chairman George Silbermann, NASCAR's director of administration; former Goodyear Tire racing official Leo Mehl and former team owner Bud Moore -- Berrier is scheduled to miss races at Bristol this weekend, Martinsville and Texas.

NBC's Marty Snider talks about the ruling on Berrier's appeal Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

Tuesday's decision reversed a trend in which three consecutive NASCAR crew chief suspensions were rescinded by the commission within the last two weeks.

Previously, Braun Racing Busch Series crew chief Todd Lohse had a four-race suspension removed and Hendrick Motorsports Nextel Cup chiefs Chad Knaus and Alan Gustafson -- who were both suspended for two races following Las Vegas -- had their suspensions removed.

In those cases, the commission maintained the monetary and/or point penalties that had been assessed in the respective cases.

For Berrier, the suspension has definite limits.

According to a NASCAR spokesperson, "suspension" means a license holder is restricted from participating, either by using their NASCAR license to attend a competition event or communicating with their team during one.

Suspended team members may not attend test sessions, but they may work daily at a team's shop.

Childress has the right under Section 15 of the Nextel Cup Series rulebook to appeal the commission's decision to the National Stock Car Racing Commissioner, Charles D. Strang.