Nascar hands down penalties for cheating

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Jimmie Johnson lost the Nextel Cup points lead and his crew chief was suspended Tuesday when NASCAR handed out several penalties for violations at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Instead of holding a 15-point lead after his victory Sunday in the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400, Johnson is now second, 10 points behind series champion Kurt Busch.

Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus, was suspended for two weeks and fined $35,000 when the race-winning car failed to meet the minimum height requirement in the post-race inspection.

The crew chiefs for Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick also were suspended.

Todd Berrier was suspended for four weeks and fined $25,000 for rigging Harvick's fuel tank to appear full when it actually wasn't during qualifying.

Alan Gustafson was suspended for two weeks and fined $25,000 because Kyle Busch's runner-up car was too high in the post-race inspection.

Johnson, Harvick and Kyle Busch were docked 25 points apiece. And 25 car-owner points were taken from Rick Hendrick, the car owner for Kyle Busch; Jeff Gordon, who owns Johnson's car, and Richard Childress, who owns Harvick's.

Hendrick said he he plans to appeal the penalties.

-- AP