NASCAR has not ruled out suspending drivers as a deterrent for cheating on the Car of Tomorrow.

Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were all docked 100 points when their cars failed recent inspections earlier this season. Their crew chiefs were fined $100,000 and suspended six races a piece, but the drivers have been allowed to compete and all three are in contention for the Chase for the Championship.

"We'd like not to get to [suspending drivers]," chairman Brian France said during a conference call yesterday. "We'd like to make the deterrent, a portion of the penalty, significant enough that that isn't necessary for us to do.

"But are we willing to go there? Of course we would. We have in the past and we will in the future. We're not hoping to do that. That's sort of a death penalty."

France also said NASCAR is investigating reports that crew chiefs Chad Knaus, Steve Letarte and Tony Eury Jr. were at New Hampshire International Speedway this past weekend despite their suspensions. All three are banned from the garage area during their suspensions, but the national television and radio broadcasts both reported the Hendrick Motorsports crew chiefs were on track property and in communication with their drivers.

One report even said Letarte participated in a Saturday team meeting with Gordon.

And, Eury Jr. apparently parked his motorcoach on a hill inside the race track and communicated with Earnhardt from there. Earnhardt reportedly spotted his crew chief during a caution period, first yelling "Hey Man!" on his radio and then explaining "I just saw a friend out there."

The conversation was described in Earnhardt's post-race media report, and explained as Earnhardt spotted a familiar face who "will return to the Bud pit box next week at Daytona." Eury's suspension ended Sunday and he's scheduled to return to the track this weekend at Daytona International Speedway.

France said the crew chiefs being on property and participating in at-track activity is not in the spirit of a suspension and that he met earlier yesterday with NASCAR president Mike Helton to discuss the matter.

"If that all is accurate, we will be addressing that shortly," France said.

More NASCAR

Other topics France discussed included:

Going Green: NASCAR switched to unleaded fuel this season, and France said he's been exploring alternative fuels. "It's important for NASCAR to lead in some areas -- this being one of them -- when it comes to the environment, when it comes to our dependency on foreign oil. It's important for us to stay in a leadership position," he said.

Lawsuits: NASCAR is fighting a claim by AT&T to replace Cingular as the logos on Jeff Burton's car, a move NASCAR is against because of its exclusivity agreement with rival Nextel. And, France said NASCAR continues to defend itself in an antitrust suit filed by Kentucky Speedway.

Busch Series sponsorship: France said NASCAR remains on track to have an announcement this summer on a replacement for Anheuser-Busch, which is pulling out as Busch Series title sponsor after this season. "We're going to get a partner for the long haul of the country's second most popular form of motorsports," he said.

Formula One

Ferrari has fired a British technician following an internal investigation into attempted sabotage before the Monaco Grand Prix.

"All I can say is that Nigel Stepney is no longer our employee," Ferrari spokesman Luca Colajanni said yesterday.

Later yesterday, McLaren said it had suspended a senior member of its technical staff.

"The team has learned that this individual had personally received a package of technical information from a Ferrari employee at the end of April," McLaren said in a statement.

First Published: July 4, 2007, 3:00 a.m.