NASCAR has penalized Penske Racing’s Ryan Newman 25 driver points because his car was found to be too high in postrace inspection after he finished fourth in Sunday’s Samsung 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
The team has also been penalized 25 owner points, and crew chief Roy McCauley has been fined $25,000 and placed on probation until Dec. 31.
"It is always our intention to follow NASCAR’s rules, and we regret this mistake," Michael Nelson, vice president of Penske Racing's NASCAR teams, said in a statement. "We look forward to getting back to the track this week and are focused on having a strong run in the No. 12 Alltel Dodge at Phoenix International Raceway.”
The penalty will drop Newman from eighth to 10th in the standings.
“What happened last week was a mistake and we’re moving on from it and looking forward to this week," Newman said in a team release. "We hate to lose points, but we have a good team and we will be able to make them up.”
