Five Cup Series cars fail pre-race inspection twice at Bristol

Staff Report

7 months ago

Five cars in the NASCAR Cup Series garage at Bristol Motor Speedway failed pre-race technical inspection multiple times, resulting in penalties. The vehicles belonging to Kyle Larson, Michael McDowell, Ross Chastain, Cole Custer and Chad Finchum all failed twice ahead of Sunday's race in Thunder Valley (3 p.m. ET, FS1, HBO Max, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), but all passed on a third time through. As a result, the teams have lost pit selection for the Tennessee 500-lapper, and one crew member for each has been ejected. RELATED: Starting lineup | Cup standings The ejected are as follows:

Jesse Saunders (Car chief, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet)
Adam Sturgill (Engineer, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet)
David Fero (Car chief, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet)
Scott Brewer (Car chief, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet)
Dylan Roberts (Car chief, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford)

Larson is the defending spring winner at Bristol and is currently ninth in points. McDowell is 17th, Chastain is 19th and Custer is 34th. Finchum is making his first Cup Series start of the 2026 season.