Why Jimmie Johnson's Daytona Penalty May Be Overturned by NASCAR

Jimmie Johnson trails the remainder of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series field in the points standings by a wide margin after his Daytona penalty.

But if all goes according to plan for the No. 48 team, that may not be the case for very long.

In case you're just tuning in, Johnson's No. 48 car was deemed to be illegal after the initial inspection process for the Daytona 500.

It was determined that the C-posts on Johnson's car, which extend from the roof to the decklid and are attached to the rear window of the car, were out of tolerance and violated NASCAR's rules.

Johnson was docked 25 points and his crew chief Chad Knaus was suspended for six races. Johnson's car owner Rick Hendrick has stated that he will appeal the penalty.

He may just win it.

In a statement made by Knaus in the days after his penalty, the controversial crew chief claimed that NASCAR did not go through the due process of inspection:

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"It was all visual. The templates never were actually put on the car. We never got the opportunity to present it on the templates. That definitely will come up during the appeal and we'll talk about it. NASCAR has a good set of standards that are black and white and other that are not."

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Several NASCAR officials claimed that the violation on Johnson's car was so blatant that it was evident to the naked eye.

For a sport that has been known to penalize teams for cars that violate NASCAR's tolerance rules by a fraction of an inch, a violation this obvious was likely to draw a hefty penalty.

But Knaus may very well have a point. If NASCAR has indeed penalized the No. 48 team even though the car did not go through the due process of inspection, they may have no choice but to overturn the penalty.

Even if Knaus is guilty.

The problem for NASCAR's case is that it has very little evidence against Johnson and Knaus.

After inspection, NASCAR allowed the team to remove the C-posts and repair the car so that it could run legally, as opposed to confiscating it so that the issue could be looked into deeper.

Furthermore, NASCAR cannot test the car on a template to prove that it is illegal, because the portion of the car that was illegal, the C-posts, was fixed immediately.

Since NASCAR has already ruled the No. 48 team guilty of the violations, this case is "guilty until proven innocent." Therefore, it will be up to Knaus to prove that he is innocent.

But if Knaus simply utters the words, "NASCAR did not go through the due process of inspection," that may be all he and the No. 48 team needs to get off clean.