Carl Edwards was penalized 100 championship driver points Wednesday by NASCAR for a rule infraction involving the oil tank lid cover on his car following his victory Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Edwards stay atop the Sprint Cup leader board was short lived as he went from a 21-point lead over Kyle Busch to seventh place following the penalties. Edwards also lost the 10 bonus points he would have gotten when the points are reshuffled for the Chase to the Championship should he be one of the 12 drivers to qualify for the 10-race playoff. It is the first time that NASCAR has deducted those points for winning a race since that bonus system was put in.

Edwards crew chief Bob Osborne was fined $100,000 and was suspended for the next six races, while team owner Jack Roush was penalized 100 owner points. NASCAR discovered the infraction during post-race inspection that the lid from Edwards' oil tank had come off. NASCAR officials said that could create an aerodynamic advantage because it allows air to escape inside the car to create more downforce.

Rusty Wallace, whose Nationwide Series team was fined for a similar incident at Daytona before it was overturned, said that would create a minimal advantage at a track such as Las Vegas. The biggest difference between Edwards' car and Wallace's Nationwide team is that the lid came completely off the Sprint star's car. They were bent in several Nationwide cars.

Roush Fenway Racing president Geoff Smith said that it is in the best interest of the team for Osborne to begin serving his suspension immediately starting with this weekend's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Missing races earlier in the season would be better than and not be as detrimental as it would be closer to the start of the Chase. Chris Andrews, the head of the engineering department at Roush Fenway, will serve as Edwards' interim crew chief until Osborne returns. He will be assisted on top of the pit box by Robbie Reiser, Matt Kenseth's longtime crew chief, who was promoted to general manager of the race teams during the offseason.

Edwards will be better off getting this penalty out of the way this early in the season. Had something like this happened much closer to the Chase started, it may have had a major effect on whether or not he would be in the playoff. Even if what they were penalized for, at least in the eyes of some experienced racing personnel, only gave them a slight advantage on the track. Edwards has plenty of time to catch back up.