Notebook: Todd Gordon named Keselowski’s Nationwide crew chief

Notebook: Todd Gordon named Keselowski’s Nationwide crew chief

Special to the Sporting News NASCAR Service

Penske Racing has named former CJM Racing and Baker Curb Racing crew chief Todd Gordon as its crew chief for defending Nationwide Series champion Brad Keselowski.
Gordon replaces Paul Wolfe, who will be Keselowski’s crew chief in Sprint Cup next year.
Gordon most recently served as race engineer for Diamond-Waltrip Racing in the Nationwide Series, which had Trevor Bayne, Martin Truex Jr. and Ryan Truex behind the wheel in 2010.
Keselowski is coming off a championship season that consisted of six wins, five poles and a series single-season record 26 top-five finishes.
“The chance to join Penske Racing and lead the championship-winning team with Brad next season is the opportunity of a lifetime,” Gordon said. “The No. 22 Dodge team had a special year in 2010, and I’m looking forward to coming on board and hopefully building on that level of success as we move forward.”

Mayfield will appeal drug case
Suspended driver Jeremy Mayfield, as expected, will appeal a judge’s decision that ruled in favor of NASCAR in his lawsuit over a May 1, 2009, drug test that he says was a false positive for methamphetamines.
Mayfield filed the notice of appeal last Thursday in federal court and has 40 days to file the actual argument for his appeal. Depending on how quickly briefs are filed in the case, a hearing could come in May in Richmond, Va., but more than likely it will come no earlier than September.
Mayfield has denied using methamphetamines and contends that the drug-test findings that prompted his suspension resulted from a combination of the prescription drug Adderall, which is used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and over-the-counter Claritin-D allergy medicine.
U.S. District Court Judge Graham Mullen ruled Mayfield had given up his right to sue through various waivers he had signed to compete in NASCAR and questioned whether Mayfield had the evidence to support his claims that NASCAR erred in ruling he tested positive for methamphetamines.
Mayfield asked for the court to reopen the case in June because he intended to introduce new evidence, and Mullen denied that request in August. Mayfield then asked again in September for Mullen to reconsider his ruling in light of NASCAR chairman Bran France’s former in-laws stating they had heard France order Mayfield to be black-flagged in the 2006 race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. France denied those claims and produced travel records that France said showed he wasn’t even with his former in-laws on the day of the race.
Mayfield was indefinitely suspended from NASCAR on May 9, 2009. He sued NASCAR for breach of contract, discrimination and defamation in an attempt to return to racing and for financial damages. He won an injunction to participate in NASCAR in July 2009 but never returned to competition.
The injunction was later stayed, pending appeal, and Mayfield eventually asked the court to drop the injunction so the case could proceed more quickly toward trial.