Rick Hendrick expects Jimmie Johnson to be without his regular crew chief for at least another week. Credit: Autostock

Hendrick won't appeal Knaus penalty, unless ...

Team expects suspension, but will appeal if it's 'wild and crazy'

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick said Monday morning that barring unforeseen circumstances, the organization would not appeal what they feel is a certain NASCAR suspension of crew chief Chad Knaus.

Knaus was sent away from Daytona International Speedway and Speedweeks 2006 two Sundays ago after Hendrick's No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet failed its post-qualifying inspection.

Credit: Autostock

Daytona 500 Results Pos. Driver Make 1. J. Johnson Chevrolet 2. C. Mears Dodge 3. R. Newman Dodge 4. E. Sadler Ford 5. T. Stewart Chevrolet Complete results, click here Victory LaneJimmie Johnson celebrates a Daytona 500 victory Top finishersNewman, Kenseth, Stewart, and Junior talk about their day Rough racingStewart slides into Kenseth and is sent to the back of the field Multi-car wreckJeff Green spins in Turn 3 and collects several others Gordon and Stewart brush wallGordon and Stewart make contact and brush the wall Early cautionRacing is clean until Truex Jr. finds the wall Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

NASCAR officials said they would not issue any further penalties until this week, following last Sunday's Daytona 500 -- which Knaus' driver Jimmie Johnson won, giving Hendrick his sixth career Daytona 500 victory.

"We don't plan to appeal anything," Hendrick said during a media gathering following the induction of the No. 48 Chevrolet into Gatorade Victory Lane at Daytona USA. "We're leaving the door open [because] if [the penalty] is something wild and crazy, we would surely be open for [an appeal].

"We want to get on with life. It was hard on the team and the sponsors, so [moving on] is the way we'd rather do it."

After a technical violation at the Nextel Cup Series' Las Vegas round last March, Knaus received a monetary fine and was suspended. The suspension was then appealed and rescinded.

With that history, Hendrick and Johnson expect Knaus to be gone for at least this coming weekend's Auto Club 500 at California Speedway; and Hendrick said he preferred to take his punishment and move on.

"It's our fault," Hendrick said. "I wish they had done whatever they're going to do -- either today or tomorrow -- last week and been done with it.

"That's what I asked [NASCAR] to do because now, when they announce it, it's going to be another story. We're just doing the best that we can and we want to move on."

Johnson, who had worked solely with Knaus as his crew chief for Johnson's four previous years in the Cup Series, said there was no doubt in his mind he'd get to work with engineer Darian Grubb making the calls on the pit box again.

"Obviously, we think Chad's going to be gone for a week or two," Johnson said. "We don't want a squeaky clean image -- we want to move forward from this."

Hendrick said that, beyond maintaining Grubb as a short-term replacement for Knaus he had no plans to permanently replace the crew chief and said he had no fear of his team coming under closer scrutiny from NASCAR from here forward.

"We've got something good here," Hendrick said. "I don't think it's going to hinder us by him being under the microscope. We've had some problems and we're not going to be that close to the edge.

"If you look at the number of entries we've had over 20-something years, with three or four or even five teams -- we want to stay within the box, as NASCAR calls it, and that's not going to hinder Chad's perspective in any way."