NASCAR issues ruling on axle placement

NASCAR has issued a memo limiting how the wheels can be positioned on the rear axle of the new model car being used in the Sprint Cup Series.

The rule goes into effect for the May 30-June 1 weekend at Dover International Speedway, although certain axle shaft and drive plate pieces, such as the ones used last week by Penske Racing's Sam Hornish Jr. that allowed for more toe than most of the other teams, are illegal as of this week.

Sprint Cup Series Director John Darby said the new rule, which allows teams a maximum of 1 degree of toe, still allows engineers to play with the rear steer of the car. He said 98 percent of the teams were at the 1 degree limit, and the rest were at 2 degrees.

"When it goes to the point where basically the teams are going to throw out millions of dollars of inventory and replace it with millions of dollars of new inventory, that's too far," Darby said.