Patrick's team warned by NASCAR

Officials discovered an unapproved left-side driver heat shield during opening day inspection at the 2.5-mile track on Feb. 13. According to an official NASCAR release detailing Section 20.11.2.2.2.1.b in the NASCAR Rule Book, “the outer exterior exhaust heat shield panel must follow the horizontal surface plane of the left side floorboard forward section to the bottom edge of the left side toe board.”

The infraction also fell under the heading of the rule book’s Section 12-1: “actions detrimental to stock car racing.”

Patrick is beginning her third full season in the Sprint Cup Series, and her first full campaign with Daniel Knost as crew chief. The former team engineer was promoted to crew chief of Stewart-Haas’ No. 41 team and driver Kurt Busch last season, then switched to Patrick’s No. 10 entry for the final three races of 2014.

Wednesday’s written warning sits on the lowest end of the spectrum of penalties detailed in NASCAR’s deterrence system, which was implemented ahead of the 2014 season. Warnings are detailed in Section 12.5.3.1 of the rule book, which reads in part:

“When appropriate, NASCAR will issue a Warning instead of a Penalty for certain types of very minor, first-time infractions. While the Warning is primarily for the information of the Member or team affected, NASCAR will also advise the garage that a warning has been issued to that Member or team. However, NASCAR will generally not specify or detail the infraction publicly unless it pertains to something new or unforeseen that the rest of the garage would benefit by knowing. Warnings are not appealable.”

Patrick finished 21st in Sunday’s season-opening Daytona 500.

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