NASCAR: Patrick could face penalty for Kahne incident

Danica Patrick will find out this week whether she will be punished by NASCAR for getting out of her car and gesturing towards Kasey Kahne after the pair crashed at Fontana last weekend.

Patrick approached Kahne's car under caution after she was tipped into the wall while trying to pass the Hendrick driver on the front straight.

"That's one of the things we will be reviewing, is what happened there," NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer Steve O'Donnell told Sirius/XM NASCAR Radio on Monday. "And that's part of having all the video tape, that we want to take some time ... there's a lot going on during a race. Coming back from the West Coast, we've got to take the time to evaluate all that.

"We've got to make sure, first and foremost, rules are in place to keep the drivers safe. And we want to just review everything that took place there and see if there's anything we need to react to this week."

Section 10.4.2.1 of the NASCAR Rulebook forbids drivers or crew members from approaching the racing surface or track apron, or another moving vehicle. The rule was introduced after Kevin Ward Jr was fatally injured in a non-NASCAR sprint car accident involving Tony Stewart in 2014.

Central to NASCAR's investigation into Patrick will be the question of whether she walked far enough onto the apron to be in breach of the rule.

Meanwhile, Kahne has taken responsibility for the accident.

"Man, I felt bad," he told USA Today. "I'm glad she got out and is all right. I passed her in [Turns] 3 and 4 and she had the momentum off the top and just went back under me going down the frontstretch.

"So I went to catch a side draft to make sure I was in position getting into Turn 1, and it didn't hold me up when I got there because I was the one coming. I just got too close, and the car was moving around and we hit. She had a bad wreck. I felt really bad, because it was far from anything but trying to hold my position I had just gained."