Kahne's No. 5 Hendrick team hit with fine, loss of points

They were fined $25,000 and penalized 15 championship owner and driver points for failing the laser inspection station in post-race inspection at Dover International Speedway on Sunday.

Upon further review at the NASCAR research and development center on Wednesday, inspectors discovered issues with the cars truck arms under Sections 20.17.3.1.2; 12.5.3.4.2 a,b,c,d; 12.5.3.4.1 n,o and assessed the team with a P3 penalty.

“We had an unintentional issue at Dover when our left- and right-side truck arms were bent at some point during the race,” said crew chief Keith Rodden of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team in a team release. “I’m disappointed in NASCAR’s decision, but we have to accept it and focus on the upcoming races. We have a great team with a lot of positive momentum that we hope to carry into the summer.”

Hendrick Motorsports has elected not to appeal the penalty.

Kahne, who has struggled to get up to speed of late, matched a season-best fourth-place finish at Dover on Sunday. The result comes three races after his sole top-five finish earned at Richmond last month. In 12 starts this season, Kahne is bringing up the rear among the Hendrick contingent with just four top 10s for the year. He’s currently 16th in the standings and has yet to lead a lap in 2016.

Other teams failing inspection included the Nos. 7, 42, and 88 — which all failed the pre-race LIS. It’s the third infraction for the Tommy Baldwin Racing team and Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s  team. Chase Elliott’s team received a warning for failing template inspection twice prior to Sunday’s AAA 400 at Dover.