Four car chiefs ejected after pre-qualifying inspection trouble at Phoenix

Staff Report

7 years ago

Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

NASCAR officials ejected four car chiefs Saturday after their cars failed pre-qualifying inspection twice at ISM Raceway near Phoenix. All four cars passed inspection on their third try, but those teams will be docked 15 minutes of practice time next weekend in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. RELATED: Full schedule at ISM Raceway | Wallace penalized, fined The offending teams and their car chiefs (as listed on this weekend's team rosters):

No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for driver Chase Elliott (car chief Josh Kirk)
No. 15 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet for driver Ross Chastain (car chief Mark Fordham)
No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for driver William Byron (car chief Tyler Jones)
No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota for driver Matt DiBenedetto (car chief Greg Emmer)

A third failure would have cost those teams their qualifying attempt in Saturday's session ahead of Sunday's Bluegreen Vacations 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Of the four teams, Elliott is the lone playoff driver in the bunch and is in need of a win in this race to advance on to the Championship 4.