The following week Berrier was issued penalties including a $10,000 fine, suspension from NASCAR that amounted to two additional races and probation until Dec. 31, 2005.

Chris Hussey, RCR's director of engineering who has previous experience as a Cup crew chief, will fill-in for Berrier in this weekend's Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

A team spokesman said Childress would have no comment on the ruling, and that the team would not appeal the decision to National Stock Car Racing Commissioner Charles D. Strang.

After missing the race at Talladega, which wasn't part of the penalty, Childress appealed, which meant that Berrier worked with Harvick at Kansas Speedway and Lowe's Motor Speedway last weekend, after which Harvick sits 12th in the point standings.

The violations regarded the sealing of the 29 car's trunk area, the fuel tank vent hose and the shock doors within its trunk.

NASCAR issued the penalties under Section 12-4-A of the Nextel Cup Series rulebook, "Actions detrimental to stock car racing," and Section 12-4-Q, "Any determination by NASCAR Officials that the car, car parts, components and/or equipment used in the Event do not conform to NASCAR rules: Unapproved aerodynamic modifications and unapproved fuel cell vent mounting."

The commission panel -- which included chairman George Silbermann, a NASCAR administrator; former team owner Brad Daugherty; and short track promoter Richard Gore -- said that "Taken individually, each of the components that failed to conform to the rules had plausible explanations, but taken collectively, constituted a serious violation of the rules.

"Therefore, it is the unanimous decision of the National Stock Car Racing Commission to uphold the original penalty issued by NASCAR. The period of the suspension will be adjusted to commence from the date of this hearing."

Thus, Berrier's suspension will include races this weekend at Martinsville and the following weekend at Atlanta, where Harvick won his first career Cup race in 2001.

Earlier this season, while Berrier was under another suspension for a technical infraction, Harvick and his team, led by interim crew chief Scott Miller, won the race at Bristol in April.