Kasey Kahne finished 18th at Michigan. Credit: Autostock

Unapproved air dam found on Kahne's car

Spring-loaded valance discovered in pre-qualifying inspection

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Kasey Kahne's team faces NASCAR penalties this week due to an unapproved air dam found Friday in pre-qualifying inspection at Michigan International Speedway.

NASCAR vice president for corporate communications Jim Hunter said the device, which other garage observers said was a "spring-loaded air dam," was not used in Sunday's Batman Begins 400, in which Kahne finished 18th after starting fourth.

BATMAN BEGINS 400 •   Unofficial Results •   Unofficial Standings •   Lap-by-Lap Coverage Final lapsGreg Biffle stays out late and it pays off with fifth victory Marlin's day ends earlySterling Marlin's car expires in a spin on Lap 168 Batman Begins 400Check out all the highlights from the 15th race Sign up for TrackPass now and earn Fan Miles BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

"We did confiscate a moveable air dam from the No. 9 team," Hunter said Sunday. "We found it in pre-qualifying inspection and it never made it onto the racetrack.

"A penalty will be forthcoming -- I don't know what. The rulebook says it cannot be adjusted, so it did not conform to our rules."

Neither Kahne nor his crew chief, Tommy Baldwin, remained in the garage after the race when Hunter made his statement.

Another crew chief explained what the Evernham Motorsports team's thought might have been in employing the device.

"The balance of this whole thing is, you want to run really soft springs to let the nose down on the ground to keep an aero attitude -- with the tail up and the nose down -- which makes total downforce," said the chief mechanic, who commented under the condition of anonymity. "There's a fine line because yes, you travel down in the corner.

"But when it comes back up [on the straights] -- the softer you are the more you grind off the valance and the more the nose comes up on the straightaway.

"So I guess what their thought was, was to have a valance that when you went in the corner would slide up, stay sealed off, and when you came up out of the corner it would slide back up and still have a lower valance -- so you would have the best of both worlds."