RELATED: Full starting lineup | See every car | Recap all of Junior’s wins
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is making his 600th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start in Sunday’s Auto Club 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). However, he will do so from the rear of the field and not from his 18th-place starting position earned in Friday’s Coors Light Qualifying session, Hendrick Motorsports confirmed.
A cut on his right-front tire is the culprit, according to a tweet from the driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
My RF tire has a cut in it. @GoodyearRacing suggests we replace and start last. pic.twitter.com/d1AUZR9e5p
– Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) March 26, 2017
Earnhardt’s crew chief Greg Ives told NASCAR.com the team wasn’t sure how or when the damaged happened, but he was glad they at least found the problem first thing Sunday morning, before final inspection and before starting the race.
Under rules put in place for the 2017 season, drivers now start the race using the tires on which they qualified. Also starting from the rear of the field for the Auto Club 400 are Paul Menard (unapproved tire change, was slated to start 23rd), Jeffrey Earnhardt (unapproved transmission change, was slated to start 32nd) and David Ragan (backup car, was slated to start 27th).
Those names join a host of others who will start in the lower ranks of the 39-car field because they did not make qualifying attempts. Jimmie Johnson, a six-time Auto Club Speedway winner, crashed during opening practice and opted against qualifying with an untested car. Joey Logano, Trevor Bayne, Gray Gaulding and Matt DiBenedetto also failed to make qualifying attempts because their cars did not pass technical inspections in time.
RELATED: Tire limits among tweaks in 2017 rules updates