Roush: Infringement not intentional

Edwards and his team were docked a hundred points in the driver and owner standings after the lid on the oil tank box was found off in the post race technical inspection, leading also to a hefty fine and the suspension of his crew chief for six races.

Roush confronted the media on Friday at Atlanta to give an explanation of what led to their penalties, even showing the part in question to illustrate the reasons why they were penalized.

Roush stated that although NASCAR has been consistent with their penalty relative to previous similar infringements, his team did not intentionally alter the car to get an unfair advantage, adding that culpability should make a difference when penalizing a team.

"I guess it should be consistent with what they do in the past, and maybe that's what they've done," Roush said about the penalty. "The thing that has not been part of the process has been the definition or the determination, the rate of culpability.

"I can prove that I was not culpable here and nobody on the team was culpable, and I think that should make a difference. It would make a difference anyplace else in the world.

"There would be a difference between first-degree murder and manslaughter based on culpability. NASCAR doesn't provide for that difference.

"If NASCAR will make a determination of culpability to let that determine the weight of the penalty, I think it would be a reasonable thing - the same as it is for the things that happen in the courts in broader society."

Toyota's Lee White told the USA Today that Edwards' team knew what they were doing, claiming tests carried out in Toyota's wind tunnel in Germany have shown that taking the lid off from the oil tank box can give as much as 170 pounds worth of downforce.

The lid in question fits on top of the heat-insulating enclosure where the dry sump tank is located. The tank sits behind the driver and close to the driver's seat, and it's exposed to air from underneath the car.

Roush trashed White's accusations and said he had already received an apology from him. He explained a fastener simply came loose inside the car due to vibration during the race, leading to the lid coming off.

"There wasn't a conscious decision made by the engineering manager for that, but one of the engineers whose job it was to get weight out of the car, made the decision that that was a sufficient fastener," Roush added.

"If it had been adequately retained, either by safety wire or with an interference nut plate, which the original ones did, we wouldn't have this issue in front of us.

"But the nut plate that was welded in rather than riveted in, that didn't have the interference capability and the lack of a lock tight, and lack of a lock washer and a lack of a safety wire resulted in the harmonics that go through the car loosening the fastener."

Although Roush Fenway Racing has not filed an appeal, Roush said they would only consider doing so if they see the possibility of having the suspension for crew chief Bob Osborne reduced.

However, Osborne is not present at Atlanta and will be replaced this weekend by the team's chief engineer Chris Andrews, with support from the team's general manager Robbie Reiser.

Edwards has dropped from the lead down to seventh in the Sprint Cup series point standings.