The No. 1 Dodge crossed the line 14th on Saturday at Texas.

Sauter disqualified from Busch race at Texas

Carburetor on No. 1 Dodge found to be too big

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Johnny Sauter's No. 1 Dodge was disqualified from Saturday's O'Reilly 300 after his car was found to have an illegal carburetor in post-race inspection.

NASCAR said that Sauter's team, owned by James Finch, would not be included in the results and would not receive points or prize money.

Johnny Sauter

Sauter finished 14th, but his team was randomly selected for inspection. During the tear-down, his carburetor found to be too large.

"Total disqualification. It was too big," said Jim Hunter, NASCAR's VP of Communications. "We think this penalty fits the circumstances. This one was obviously illegal."

NASCAR said they were not tipped off that Sauter's car might be illegal.

The move comes three weeks after NASCAR warned teams that continued rules violations would escalate into stiffer penalties.

On Sunday, NASCAR made good on their promise. It is unclear when the last time a driver was disqualified in this fashion.

NASCAR also said that the team might face even more penalties, which would be announced either Monday or Tuesday.

"This post-race inspection in finding the carburetor illegal falls in that category of 'blatant,' said Hunter. "I don't want to speculate on whether we would take away a victory, but if something is obviously designed to improve the performance of the car, we will do whatever we need to do."