NASCAR officials indicated that three drivers — William Byron, Erik Jones and Quin Houff — will drop to the rear of the field for Sunday’s Cup Series race at Nashville Superspeedway because of unapproved adjustments.
Byron was the top qualifier among those three, pushing the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to a fourth-place starting berth for Sunday’s Ally 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM). But the penalty will drop his car to the back of the pack during pace laps.
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Jones and Houff had each scraped the outside retaining wall during their qualifying laps, with Jones’ No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet brushing the barrier in Turn 4 and Houff tapping the Turns 1 and 2 wall with the No. 00 StarCom Racing Chevy.
Jones had secured the ninth starting spot in Busch Pole Qualifying. Houff did not post a qualifying speed and was already set to start last in the 39-car field.