'Rally for Robby' T-shirts part of Gordon support

FONTANA, Calif. -- A campaign is under way declaring Robby Gordon's innocence for what NASCAR said was an illegal part used on his car during Speedweeks. (read more)

Representatives from Jim Beam, which sponsors Gordon's No. 7 car, will canvas the Auto Club Speedway grandstands on Saturday gathering signatures for a petition demanding NASCAR reverse its "unfair" decision to dock Gordon 100 points. Crew chief Frank Kerr also was fined $100,000, suspended for the next six Sprint Cup Series events until April 9 and placed on probation until Dec. 31.

Gordon

Along with the petition, "Rally for Robby" T-shirts are being made for Gordon fans to wear during this weekend's Cup events, said Sofia Lombardo, spokesperson for Jim Beam.

Also, Thomas Flocco, president and CEO of Beam Global Spirits & Wine Inc., has sent a letter addressed to NASCAR president Mike Helton, as well as other top officials, voicing the company's frustrations.

"Robby's team earned an honest eighth-place finish in the Daytona 500 through tireless dedication, quality and character, not because of rule violations," the letter states. "As your own officials have stated, there appears to have been no intent to circumvent the rules in order to gain a competitive disadvantage. It amounts to an honest mistake that was corrected before the race.

"Your decision unfairly penalizes Robby, his sponsors and his fans. ... While we fully support the rules NASCAR has put in place to keep the playing field level, we ask that you closely review all the facts," the letter continued. "Please consider not just the letter of the law, but the spirit of the rules of competition."

Gordon, who was not allowed to participate in a news conference for the top-10 Cup drivers Friday in California, is equally as frustrated and feels NASCAR continues to target him as an independent team owner. On Thursday he said that he would appeal the penalty levied against the No. 7 team by NASCAR. (read more)

"I hope that NASCAR can reconsider when they have all the facts," Gordon said in a statement released on his Web site. "In the meantime, we have no choice but to appeal this penalty. We started the season off on a high note with a top-10 finish at Daytona and we look forward to continuing that at California and Las Vegas."

Kerr said a small team such as RGM can't sustain penalties and suspension and recover like some other four-car Cup teams in the sport.

"We have 30 people in our whole operation, including front office and cleaning staff. We don't have a back log of people to set in place," he said. "Here we are a small team trying to survive with mega groups. We ran well in Daytona and everyone was on a high and then [NASCAR] comes down with a penalty. I know Robby's fans are upset as are a lot of other NASCAR fans.

Despite the penalty and appeal under advisement, Kerr said the attitude going into Sunday's Cup race is: "Go out and win and show'em we are not dying."

• Head2Head: Was punishment levied against No. 7 team appropriate?