TALLADEGA, Ala. -- "We want to see sunshine between the cars," was NASCAR president Mike Helton's bump-draft warning to the field in Sunday's drivers meeting before the Amp Energy 500, particularly in instances where two cars are locked together in the turns.

"All of the way through Turns 1 and 2, and all of the way through Turns 3 and 4, you will not be allowed to push someone, to bump-draft them or to shove them through the turns," Helton said. "Remember the aggressive driving will still be watched very closely on the frontstretches and through the tri-oval. But we have seen the progress, particularly at Talladega, of two cars hooking up and basically locked up all the way around for a lap.

"You will not be allowed to do that in the turns. That's from the green flag all the way through to the checkered flag. So even on the last lap, coming through 3 and 4, you're not going to be able to push a guy hooked up in a two-car tandem like we've seen progress through practice."

For the first instance, NASCAR will require a pass-through penalty for the offenders. However, Helton went on to say the sanctioning body may reserve the right to take away an apparent victory if officials believe it was accomplished through extended pushing in the corners.

"Understand that we're not going to throw a black flag on with the checkered flag, because the rule book gives us the ability to adjust the finish order based on incidences that may unfold during the conclusion of the race," Helton said. "... We've got 2.66 miles to get the word to him. If the race winner or the guy who takes the checker has got that position by drafting up through the turns, and you could be the guy in front, then that's going to be an issue with us. The guy from the back will catch the penalty most all the time, but if you win the race by drafting through 1 and 2 with help, then you're going to have a problem, and the guy who pushed you is going to have a problem, too."

Juan Montoya then questioned whether the lead car in a two-car draft deserved the same scrutiny.

"The way I understand it, in order to do that, the lead car's got to play a role in this, too," Helton said. "We understand the guy in the back does the shoving. But it feels to me, the guy in front plays a role in this, too. That doesn't mean the guy in 1 and 2 can't get approached from the back and pushed, and if we feel he didn't have a role in this, that'll come into play.

"But it's going to be hard for us to do. We tried to avoid this all along because this isn't easy. And we're going to stay on top of this the best we can. That doesn't mean we're going to catch every one of them. But if somebody hooks up long enough, it's going to be pretty obvious. Obviously, it'll be more obvious to us on the last lap because we'll be watching pretty closely."

Carl Edwards said it's up to the drivers now to determine how much they want to possibly run afoul of NASCAR's watchful eye.

"We're all responsible for our front bumpers," Edwards said. "We can keep from running into one another. The hard part's going to be ... at the end of the race. Juan Montoya brought up some good questions in the meeting.

"Everybody's going to fudge a little bit. People are going to try and find the limits. Hopefully the penalties are not too severe, but severe enough to where people believe in not trying too hard, not pushing too much. It's going to be a little bit tough out there, as a driver, to decide how aggressive you want to be."

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• Helton, Hoots lay down the law on bump-drafting