Hendrick won't appeal penalties

The team were not allowed to take part in practice and qualifying last week, forcing Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson to start from the back of the grid.

They were then deducted 100 points each in the driver and car owner standings and face the suspension of their crew chiefs for the next six events plus a  $100,000 fine for both crew chiefs Steve Letarte and Chad Knaus.

"The penalties are excessive," Rick Hendrick said in a statement. "But we're not going to put time and resources into issuing an appeal. Instead, we will direct that energy into our internal processes to make sure we have full confidence that our cars will meet standards when presented for inspection each week.

"We've said from the beginning that this would be a learning process [with the car of tomorrow] and there would be a lot of give and take between NASCAR and the teams to figure it out. That doesn't seem to be the case now, and I don't think it's the right direction to go."

Both Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson will have to work with new crew chiefs as from next weekend at New Hampshire. Jeff Meendering will replace Steve Letarte, while Ron Malec will take over from Chad Knaus.

"In Jeff and Ron, we have two guys who know their teams inside and out," Hendrick added. "They both have been here a long time, they both know the pressures involved, and they both have the full support of our entire organization. We don't expect to miss a beat."

Meendering, in Gordon's team since 2000, has been working closely with Steve Letarte as car chief for the No 24 team for the past year and will now take on additional responsibilities for the next six races. Malec has also been car chief for the No 48 team since 2003 and has been linked to Jimmie Johnson's career since 1996.

For Knaus this is the second suspension in as many years, as he was out of the first three races of last year when Johnson's car failed post-qualifying inspection at Daytona.

Despite that, Johnson went on to win the Daytona 500, finished second at Atlanta and then won again in the third event  of the year at Las Vegas, all under Darian Grubb's guidance.

Letarte and Knaus will only return to action during the second Nextel Cup race at Michigan in August.