Earnhardt Jr, DEI penalised

The number 8 car of Earnhardt was found to have illegal wing mounting brackets during pre-race inspection last Saturday at Darlington. The parts were changed for the rest of the weekend, but the team was still punished, adding to the tough times they are going through since Earnhardt's announcement last week.

NASCAR has fined Tony Eury Jr, the team's crew chief US $100,000 and has also suspended him for the next seven races - until July 4, 2007 - including next weekend's non-points Nextel All-Star Challenge. He has also been put on probation until the end of the year.

Dale Earnhardt Jr and car owner Teresa Earnhardt have also been punished with a deduction of 100 points, both in the Driver and Owner standings, meaning they would drop out of the top 12 who make the Chase for the Nextel Cup at the end of the season.

The team said in a statement that the parts found to be illegal were built as test pieces and admitted they should not have been fitted to the car. Eury Jr. was not at the track on Thursday for the first inspection, the team said, leading to the costly mistake.

DEI is expected to appeal against the severity of the penalty, rather than the technical infraction, which is the first to be caught by officials in a Car of Tomorrow event.

Dale Earnhardt Jr had finished eighth in Sunday's Dodge Avenger 500 at Darlington Raceway, and was ranked 12th in the Nextel Cup standings. After the penalty, he has dropped two places to 14th.