NASCAR handed down penalties to Kurt Busch's No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing team on Tuesday for failing post-race inspection in the July 6 Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
Busch was docked 10 driver points, and Gene Haas lost 10 car owner points. Crew chief Daniel Knost received a $10,000 fine.
According to a news release from NASCAR, the infraction is a P2 level penalty. The sanctioning body noted the No. 41 team violated Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 20-12 (l) of the 2014 NASCAR rule book.
Section 20-12 (1) in the rule book states, "For events at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, at all times, the Delta (or difference) of the Z-height measurement between the center of the panhard bar mounting bolt located at the left truck trailing arm and the center of the panhard bar mounting bolt, located at the right rear sub-frame mounting bracket, must not exceed three inches."
Busch, the 2004 Cup Series champion, finished third at Daytona. Following post-race inspection, his car was taken to the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, North Carolina, where it underwent further inspection.
With the points loss, Busch dropped from 24th to 26th in the standings (currently 412 points for the season).
Busch won the spring race at Martinsville Speedway, which has virtually guaranteed him a spot in this year's Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. He must be in the top-30 in points when the regular season concludes (Sept. 6 at Richmond International Raceway) in order to qualify for the Chase. Busch is presently 156 points ahead of 31st-place David Gilliland.
[SportsNetwork.com]
