The team's No. 8 Chevrolet was found to be 1/8-inch lower than the minimum height of 51 inches during a routine postrace inspection Sunday. Several crew chiefs said the variance would have made virtually no difference in the car's on-track performance.

The discrepancy was announced several hours after the race and long after Earnhardt and the most of his team had left the Alabama track for their North Carolina homes.

NASCAR said it never considered stripping Earnhardt of his victory and giving it to second-place finisher Tony Stewart.

"That has never happened in Winston Cup racing," Jim Hunter, vice president of corporate communications for NASCAR, said Monday. "The philosophy is when people leave the race on Sunday night they need to know who won."

The team had no comment Monday.

NASCAR also fined Larry Carter, crew chief for Todd Bodine's No. 66 Ford, $10,000 and placed him on probation until the end of the season for storming into the pit of Kevin Harvick.

It appeared at the time that Harvick had bumped the rear of Bodine's car and sent the No. 66 careering into the concrete wall on the backstretch of the 2.66-mile oval about halfway through the race. Elliott Sadler and Casey Atwood also were involved in the crash.

Carter went to Harvick's pit area to complain, but team owner Richard Childress pushed him out of the pit.

Ron Hornaday later came forward to apologize to both Harvick and Bodine, saying he started the crash by bumping Harvick from behind. Carter is suspended from NASCAR until the fine is paid.

In other action Monday, NASCAR fined Terry Spalding -- a team member of Jimmy Spencer's No. 26 Ford - $5,000 and placed him on indefinite suspension for allegedly selling credentials.