Roush denies orders were given at Talladega

Car owner Jack Roush denied ordering Trevor Bayne to leave Jeff Gordon and draft with Matt Kenseth at the end of Sunday's race at Talladega Superspeedway.

While Roush, Bayne and Eddie Wood denied team orders, they acknowledged the need to help another Ford car. Wood, whose family-run team has been aligned with Ford throughout its history, said on Sirius Satellite Radio that "loyalty prevails."

Bayne's late-race move has come under scrutiny by some fans because of the deal he and Gordon struck before the final restart to work together. Both were without drafting partners at that point. Bayne's move combined with Tony Stewart saying earlier in the weekend that former drafting partner David Gilliland couldn't work with Stewart because Stewart was not in a Ford led some fans to question the tactic by Ford teams.

Things changed when Kenseth lost his drafting partner and ran up on Bayne's back bumper with less than two laps left. Gordon got dumped as he was running third and finished 27th.

After the race, Bayne wrote on Twitter that "I would have rather pulled over and finished last than tell (Gordon) I would work with him and then be strong-armed into bailing."

That comment was later removed from Bayne's Twitter account.

Roush said the drivers are the ones deciding who to run with.

"At Roush Fenway Racing, we expect our individual drivers to make decisions that put themselves in the best position to win each and every race," Roush said in a statement.

Yet, that countered what Wood said on Sirius Satellite Radio.

"It came across the radio that Matt (Kenseth) needed help," Wood said. "So, then, that's when we helped Matt. At the end of the day, we've been with Ford Motor Company for 61 years. Loyalty prevails in our case.

"We kind of gave up a shot at maybe winning the race. You're either with someone, your teammate or the people that have cared and looked after you for years. Loyalty is big."

Roush also said in his statement that "we did not micromanage or dictate any of our drivers, nor any other Ford drivers, how to reach with other drivers at Talladega."

Said Bayne of dumping Gordon for Kenseth: "It was probably the hardest thing I've ever had come up in my career. Jeff and I are fine. He just said that... 'I understand the situation you were put in.' "

NASCAR penalties

NASCAR suspended six people and issued 25-point penalties to three teams for unapproved modifications to the windshield. The infractions were discovered last weekend at Talladega.

NASCAR penalized the teams of Bobby Labonte, David Reutimann and Martin Truex Jr. Labonte drives for JTG Daugherty. Reutimann and Truex drive for Michael Waltrip Racing. All three teams are housed in Michael Waltrip Racing's shop.

Labonte, Reutimann and Truex each were docked 25 points - about the equivalent of a 100-point penalty in the old points system.

All three had their crew chiefs and car chiefs suspended for the rest of the season.

Both JTG Daugherty and Michael Waltrip Racing will not appeal the penalties.

Gibbs adds driver

James "Bubba" Stewart, one of the top riders in motocross, has signed to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing's motocross team.

Stewart has won two AMA Supercross titles and an AMA Motocross championship. He became the first African American to win titles in those divisions.

The 25-year-old Stewart also has NASCAR aspirations and will look to run in stock-car races as early as next season, most likely in the K&N Pro Series and maybe Nationwide Series.

Chassis choices

Points leader Carl Edwards will debut a new chassis this weekend at Martinsville. His teammate, Matt Kenseth, who is 14 points behind Edwards, also will have a new chassis this weekend.

Brad Keselowski, third in the standings, will use a new chassis this weekend. Kevin Harvick, who is fifth in the points, will use the same chassis this weekend that he won with at Martinsville in April. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished second to Harvick in April, will use the same chassis this weekend that he ran in that spring race.