NASCAR announced Monday afternoon that driver Kyle Busch will be penalized six driver points for violations on the No. 18 M&M's Toyota car which were discovered after Sunday's Sprint Cup Series 5-Hour Energy 500.
During post-race inspection, officials discovered the left front of the vehicle was too low, which put the car in violation of three NASCAR rules., according to reports. Crew chief Dave Rogers said the car was 1/16th of an inch outside the guidelines set by NASCAR. The car had passed pre-race inspection.
In addition to Busch's penalty of six driver points, Rogers was fined $25,000 while owner Joe Gibbs was penalized six owner points.
Busch finished third in Sunday's race at Pocono Raceway, one spot behind older brother Kurt Busch and two spots behind race champion Jeff Gordon.
This is the first penalty against a Sprint Cup driver since the introduction of a new points system. Busch remains in fifth place in the Chase for the Cup, 31 points behind leader Carl Edwards.
"It's disappointing," Rogers said after learning of the infraction penalties. "I can't tell you a whole lot right now. We sit on bump stops in these race cars. Your springs often don't damage. We were struggling all weekend and we went back to what we raced last spring when we finished second."
