Five of the top-10 have failed NASCAR inspection at Kansas Speedway
Highlights: 11 cars failed post-qualifying/pre-race inspection at Kansas Speedway and will go to the back. Additionally, several teams will have a crew member ejected.
The NASCAR garage area opened at 1:30pm today. Inspection was the first thing on the list after some crew chiefs had a sleepless night and with good reason.
Kevin Harvick took the unofficial pole position yesterday in Kansas Speedway qualifying. He made that official this afternoon as cars rolled through the inspection line. Harvick has passed and will start from the pole.
It’s a condensed two-day show at Kansas Speedway. That means that it’s all an impound race with combined inspections. There was no inspection ahead of qualifying. This afternoon’s inspection doubles as post-qualifying and pre-race inspection.
Typically, cars roll through the inspection line ahead of qualifying. They then run a practice session. That’s followed by a separate inspection line ahead of the race. This weekend, post-qual and pre-race are combined into one inspection.
Stewart-Haas Racing locked out the top-4 position in qualifying runs. However, two of Harvick’s teammates have failed Kansas Speedway inspection moments ago.
Aric Almirola and Daniel Suarez both failed inspection. NASCAR had issues with their rear deck lids. They were too low by 9/1000 of an inch.
NASCAR inspection failures: Kansas Speedway
More than 25% of the field has failed inspection at least once.
Teams that failed on the first pass through inspection:
Inside the top 10: Aric Almirola (2nd), Daniel Suarez (4th), Chase Elliott (5th), Martin Truex Jr (6th) and Kyle Larson (8th) have all failed.
Outside of the top 10: Ty Dillon (15th), Joey Logano (20th), Michael McDowell (23rd), Landon Cassill (25th), Joey Gase (38th) and Timmy Hill (39th).
One failed inspection results in the qualifying time being disallowed. The cars who failed on the first pass will be sent to the tail of the line as they make another attempt to get through the line.
If teams fail multiple times and additional penalties will now be put in place. The NASCAR inspection penalties are amplified for two-day shows.
Teams that failed twice in inspection:
Chase Elliott is the first car to fail on his second attempt through the inspection line. The crew jacked the car up and went to work after failing, their third attempt is up next.
With the second pass now complete: Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson and Joey Logano all failed on their second pass.
Two failures has resulted in an ejection of a crew member in addition to starting at the rear. It’s NASCAR’s decision on which crew member is ejected.
The car chiefs for all three have been ejected.
Any team that failed inspection will also lose their pit stall selection. The pits stall has not yet been selected and these drivers will all pick last as their qualifying time from yesterday never counted after failing inspection today.
Elliott, Larson and Logano all made it through on the third attempt and inspection is now complete.
NASCAR inspection rules: Pre-race/post-qualifying inspection
NASCAR updated the inspection violation penalties at the start of the 2019 season. They are also different for a race weekend featuring an enhanced weekend with an impound following qualifying.
The NASCAR inspection penalties for Kansas Speedway are as follows:
1 NASCAR Inspection failure: The team’s time from qualifying is disallowed. They will start from the rear, behind all other cars that pass inspection. They also lose their pit stall selection.
2 NASCAR inspection failure: If a team fails twice, NASCAR will eject a crew member of their choosing. In addition, they are forced to the start the race in the rear.
3 NASCAR inspection failures: If a team failed three times then they lose a crew member. They have to start at the rear. In addition, the car has to serve a pass through penalty on pit lane at the start of the race. A points penalty is also added to the list.
Note: This story will be updated upon any additional failures.
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