Stewart caught cheating by NASCAR

Roush-powered cars and Hendrick-powered cars dominated Friday afternoon qualifying at Daytona International Speedway, with Sprint Cup tour leader Matt Kenseth taking dead aim at a Daytona sweep with a pole-winning run at 192.386 mph…just a tick quicker than Tony Stewart.

But after qualifying NASCAR busted Stewart for an aerodynamic violation and disallowed his time, ordering him to the rear of the field for the 7:30 p.m. start. Ironically that put Stewart's teammate Ryan Newman on the front row next to Kenseth.

Kenseth led Roush Ford pack; Stewart was the fastest of the Hendrick-powered men, until NASCAR ruled that a loose air hose inside the car was too much of an aero edge. Roush and Hendrick men swept the top seven spots.

That penalty on Stewart is the same one, for the same violation, that Nationwide driver Austin Dillon received earlier in the afternoon, which dropped Dillon from the pole to the rear. Dillon was busted just last weekend after winning Kentucky's Nationwide race, and when NASCAR announces any further penalties in the next few days speculation is that Dillon could be hit with a $50,000 fine and 12-point penalty. MikeMulhern.net