The Spire Motorsports No. 77 Chevrolet failed pre-qualifying inspection three times Friday at Talladega Superspeedway, resulting in penalties ahead of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race.
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Driver Landon Cassill will have to make a pass-through on pit road at the soonest opportunity after the start of Sunday’s GEICO 500 (3 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM) at the 2.66-mile track. The No. 77 team will not be permitted to participate in Saturday’s Busch Light Pole Qualifying (11 a.m. ET, FS1) and will lose pit-stall selection. Additionally, JR Norris — car chief for the No. 77 team — was ejected.
Two other teams in the 39-car field failed inspection two times, resulting in the loss of pit selection and a crew member for the weekend. Those teams:
– No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (driver Martin Truex Jr.; ejected: engineer Nick Burton)
– No. 47 JTG Daugherty Chevrolet (driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr.; ejected: car chief Travis Young)
Sunday’s race is the 10th this season in the NASCAR Cup Series and marks the first visit this year to Talladega.