Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus Penalty Upheld; Hendrick to Appeal Again

The penalties levied against five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus have been upheld by the NASCAR appeals board, according to David Caraviello of nascar.com.

Johnson was docked 25 points and crew chief Chad Knaus, along with car chief Ron Malec, were both suspended for six races after NASCAR determined that the C-posts on Johnson's No. 48 car, which extend from the roof to the rear decklid, were found to be out of tolerance during initial inspection for the Daytona 500.

Johnson's car owner Rick Hendrick elected to appeal the penalties. The appeal went before the board on Tuesday and upon announcing the results the board issued this statement:

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"Upon hearing the testimony, carefully reviewing the facts and historically comparative penalties, the unanimous decision of the National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel was to uphold the original penalties assessed by NASCAR."

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Hendrick was not pleased with the results of the appeal.

"I don't accept it, period," Hendrick said of the ruling. "We feel strongly about this issue and will continue to pursue it to the next level."

Hendrick has announced he will appeal the ruling to NASCAR's chief appellate officer, John Middlebrook. During that appeal, Knaus and Malec will still be allowed at the race track.

The appeal of a decision is something that has not happened in recent years, if ever, so it remains to be seen whether Hendrick has any chance at winning his second appeal.

At this point, all signs point to "no," especially since the board has already come up with a decision and a reason for making that ruling.

NASCAR has a history of levying penalties against teams whose cars fail inspection even before they take to the track.

The most notable example came in 2007, when Michael Waltrip's car was found to be carrying a jet fuel mixture which never took to the track.

He was docked 100 points at the time, which is equivalent to about 23 points under NASCAR's current points system.

Add in the fact that Johnson and Knaus have a sketchy history when it comes to tech inspection, and the the 25-point penalty seems well in line with "historically comparative penalties."

Hendrick's appeal could be a strategy play to ensure that Knaus is atop the pit box at a track which emphasizes strong setups in Bristol.

If the second appeal is upheld after Bristol, the additional race Knaus would miss is Talladega, a track which does not emphasize strong setups but relies more on raw speed and drafting.

With today's announcements, all we have learned is that, for the time being, Johnson's point total and position remains the same and Knaus will be on the pit box for at least one more race.

As the situation regarding Johnson and Knaus's penalty unfolds, we will keep you posted.