Kurt Busch, Stewart-Haas penalised after Daytona Sprint Cup race

Busch came through the field from 40th on the grid to third in the rain-shortened event.

But his Chevrolet was kept for an additional inspection due to an issue with its track bar.

A NASCAR statement said "the Delta (or difference) of the Z-height measurement between the centre of the panhard bar mounting bolt located at the left truck trailing arm and the centre of the panhard bar mounting bolt, located at the right rear sub-frame mounting bracket, exceeded the maximum of three inches", a maximum that is imposed for the restrictor-place races at Daytona and Talladega.

Both Busch and car owner Gene Haas have lost 10 championship points, while Busch's crew chief Daniel Knost has been fined $10,000.

NASCAR ranked the infringement at 'P2' in its P1-P6 escalating scale of severity for technical infractions, but also issued the penalty under the "actions detrimental to stock car racing" category.

The points deduction moves Busch back from 24th to 26th in the drivers' standings, but he is still currently in line for a Chase slot by virtue of his win at Martinsville in March.