James Hinchcliffe's car fails IndyCar post-race checks for Texas

Hinchcliffe finished second to Graham Rahal by 0.0080s after leading 188 laps of the race, but his car was found to have sustained too much wear to its domed skid.

SPM has been fined $20,000, and both team and driver have been penalised 25 points as a result of the infraction.

"In our post-race analysis this week it was determined the skid plate on the No. 5 entry was worn and in violation of our rules," said Jay Frye, IndyCar president of competition and operations.

"This was both a performance advantage and a safety concern, as the domed portion of the skid had been ground down to the point it would have been ineffective."

The domed skids are a safety measure added to the skid plate of the Honda and Chevrolet Dallara chassis to avoid lift in the event of a crash.

Hinchcliffe could not be reached for comment but on Tuesday he discussed the set-up that had his car out front in last Saturday night's completion of a race that was stopped for rain after 71 laps on June 12.

"The whole point of our set-up at Texas was to take care of the tyres and for long-run speed," Hinchcliffe said.

"Though our short-term pace and short-run pace was very good, that's not what our car was built for, so those short stints at the end with all the yellows is just what allowed everyone else to catch up.

"But it's the nature of the beast. In any longer run, we were the class of the field, and the team deserves a lot of credit for that."