NASCAR Cup Series

Joe Gibbs Racing drops penalty appeal on Denny Hamlin's car

Published Aug. 7, 2014 4:05 p.m. ET

Tom Jensen

Joe Gibbs Racing will not appeal penalties handed down by NASCAR against the No. 11 JGR team for hot having the firewall of Denny Hamlin's car properly sealed at the recent Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Team spokesman Chris Helein confirmed the decision Thursday afternoon.

By having the front or rear of the cockpit improperly sealed, it could allow additional air into the car to improve downforce.

NASCAR issued penalties for the infraction on July 29. Those penalties included six-race suspensions for crew chief Darian Grubb and car chief Wesley Sherrill.

Grubb was also fined $125,000 and the team was hit with a loss of 75 owner points and 75 driver points for Hamlin.

The decision not to appeal means Grubb and Sherrill will not be allowed to come to the track until the first race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, which begins next month at Chicagoland Speedway.

On the other hand, it eliminates a potentially time-consuming and draining appeal process at a time when the team wants to be solely focused on winning a championship.

JGR said initially it had planned to appeal the penalties but subsequently team officials changed their minds.

VIDEO: Larry McReynolds explains the penalty on Denny Hamlin's team