The Joe Gibbs Racing teams of Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth, which combined to win six of the last nine NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, will each lose 15 minutes of practice time next weekend when the series heads to Darlington Raceway.
The two were among 11 teams issued warnings arising from pre-qualifying and pre-race inspection issues at Bristol Motor Speedway, site of the Aug. 22 Irwin Tools Night Race.
Busch's No. 18 team failed pre-race inspection four times on Saturday. Busch finished eighth in the race.
Kenseth's No. 20 team was penalized for failing pre-race inspection on its first two attempts, as well as failing to get to inspection at the allotted time. Kenseth finished 42nd after when an engine issue sidelined the 2003 Sprint Cup champion after 110 laps of the 500-lap race.
NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series is not competing this weekend. The Bojangles' Southern 500 is scheduled for Sept. 6 at Darlington (7 p.m., NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
The 15-minute penalties will be enforced when opening practice gets underway on Friday, Sept. 4 at 11 a.m.
Kenseth is currently fourth in the Chase Grid and has a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoff locked up. Busch, who missed the first 11 races of the season due to injuries sustained in a crash at Daytona International Speedway in February, is currently second in the Chase Grid, but needs to clinch a top 30 position in the point standings over the final two regular-season races before he officially locks his spot in the Chase up.
Warnings may be issued to teams for a variety of minor infractions. For every fourth warning issued to a team, whether during a championship (points) or non-championship (non-points) event, the loss of pit stall selection will be enforced.
Others teams receiving warnings at Bristol for failing pre-qualifying inspection twice were: No. 22 (Joey Logano/Team Penske), No. 24 (Jeff Gordon/Hendrick Motorsports), No. 7 (Alex Bowman/Tommy Baldwin Racing), No. 30 (Travis Kvapil/TMG) and the No. 98 (Timmy Hill/Premium Motorsports)
Also penalized for being late to inspection were the following teams: No. 40 (Landon Cassill/Hillman Racing), No. 83 (Matt DiBenedetto/BK Racing, No. 15 (Clint Bowyer/Michael Waltrip Racing) and the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin/Joe Gibbs Racing).