FONTANA, Calif. -- Dodge officials admit a mistake led to Robby Gordon having the wrong nose on his car at Daytona and later being penalized 100 points and $100,000 for the infraction.

NASCAR discovered the problem in the first inspection at Daytona and Gordon had the right nose on his car before he went on the track. He finished eighth in last week's Daytona 500 but learned of NASCAR's penalties this week. NASCAR also suspended Gordon's crew chief Frank Kerr for six races.

Gordon is appealing the penalty, so Kerr can continue working with the team until the appeal is heard.

Kipp Owen, director of Dodge Motorsports Engineering, issued a statement Friday about what happened to Gordon.

"While the nose meets the template for the car of tomorrow, it has not yet been approved by NASCAR or use in racing," Owen said in a statement. "The prototype parts were in the warehouse, and share the same basic part number as the approved ... nose.

"It was an unfortunate series of human errors compounded by the very short time frame [Gordon's team] had to get their cars changed to Dodge Chargers in time for the Daytona 500.

"Dodge has taken the appropriate steps in the warehouse to make sure that prototype parts can not be mistaken for approved parts in the future and hopes that the circumstances surrounding this error are considered.''

Rain cancels qualifying

Defending series champion Jimmie Johnson will start on the pole after rain washed out qualifying Friday.

The starting lineup was set by the rulebook, which guarantees the top 35 in car owner points, 2007 winners not yet in the field, all former champions and the remaining spots are set by 2008 points.

That allowed former champion Bill Elliott to make the race for the Wood Brothers, a week after they failed to make the Daytona 500. Among those who missed the race were rookie Patrick Carpentier and A.J. Allmendinger.

Not happy

A TV camera caught Clint Bowyer and teammate Jeff Burton appearing to have a heated talk after last weekend's Daytona 500. Both drivers downplayed the incident.

"Clint and I were mad, but we weren't mad at what people thought we were mad at,'' Burton said.

"The conversation that Clint and I had we'll keep to ourselves. There's no strife amongst the drivers, there's none of that. We did have a discussion and it is clear that you can't have productive conversations as soon as the race is over. That just can never happen, never has happened, never will happen. But there's nothing leaving Daytona that we have any concern about whatsoever."

New name

California Speedway officials announced they have sold the track's naming rights and it will be called Auto Club Speedway. The track and Automobile Club of Southern California signed a 10-year agreement. Published reports estimate the deal to be worth between $50-75 million. The track becomes only the third on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit that has sold its naming rights. The others are Lowe's Motor Speedway and Infineon Raceway.

Back together

The announcement that Champ Car and the Indy Racing League have agreed to unify had some NASCAR folks talking.

Said car owner Chip Ganassi, who also owns an IRL team, in a statement: "This is a very good day for American open-wheel racing. It has taken a long time to get to this point but that is all water under the bridge. The only thing that matters is that we are back together. But as I have said many times, this is only the start. We have a lot of work to do, but I can tell you that I am thrilled to get working.''

Eddie Gossage, president of Texas Motor Speedway, said in a statement: "This is spectacular news, but we all have to be cautious because the act of unifying open-wheel racing in America is not a cure for all that ails the sport. It is a necessary and huge first step, but there is much work to be done.''