Dale Coyne on the penalty issued to Carlos Huertas

Carlos Huertas on his way to victory Saturday in Houston.

AutoRacing1 heard from Dale Coyne earlier today after penalties were given to the #18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda entry which Carlos Huertas drove to victory in Race 1 of Saturday's Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston presented by the Greater Houston Honda Dealers. Huertas' car was found to be in violation of Rule 14.7.2 (Fuel Cell Capacity), and Rule 14.6.4.18 (Rear Wing Height) of the Verizon IndyCar Series rulebook after Saturday's race.

In a press release earlier today, INDYCAR stated "INDYCAR officials determined that the infractions did not impact the finishing order of the race or final position of the offending team."

INDYCAR President of competition and operations Derrick Walker reiterated this sentiment in a story with RACER today, saying the fuel cell "was off by a very small portion. We looked at our data, how the race unfolded, and we determined the extra fuel did not play a part [in Huertas' win]. However, it was out of compliance by a small amount and we gave them a small penalty."

The team was fined a total of $10,000, and Huertas' win remained.

Via email Coyne very matter-of-factly addressed the fuel cell with AR1's Brian Carroccio.

"The car went through technical inspection Thursday and per the IRL the tank was at 18.45 gallons." Coyne went on, "We did nothing to the tank all weekend, yet when it went through technical inspection after the race, in the heat of the day the tank was 18.6 gallons (INDYCAR rules limit fuel capacity to 18.5 gallons).

"I'm not sure why it was different, other than the heat."

Last, Coyne said the car drove into victory lane with more than a gallon of fuel in the tank, which would square with Walker's statement that the exceeded capacity did not play a factor in the outcome.

Brian C. reporting for AR1