NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — Three NASCAR Cup Series teams have received penalties after issues in pre-race inspection at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
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The No. 33 Chevrolet of Richard Childress Racing and the No. 88 Chevrolet of Trackhouse Racing both failed inspection two times. They passed on the third attempt. The No. 1 Chevrolet of Trackhouse Racing failed inspection three times.
As a result, the No. 33 team and the No. 88 team will both lose pit stall selection for the Cup Series race on Sunday night (7 p.m. ET on TNT). NASCAR ejected No. 88 car chief Eddie D'Hond and No. 33 Clay Alexander car chief for the remainder of the weekend.
The No. 1 team will face harsher penalties. The team will not have a pit stall selection, and NASCAR will eject car chief David Fero for the rest of the weekend.
Ross Chastain will also have to drop to the rear of the field for the start of the 450-lap Cup Series race. He will then serve a pass-through penalty after taking the green flag.
North Wilkesboro Speedway is a 0.625-mile short track, so Chastain will fall off the lead lap early. He will have to hope that the caution quickly flies while he is in the free pass position.
"If the car's fast, it won't matter," Chastain told media members after learning of his penalty. "Plenty of laps. Yeah, (I'm) not worried."
Prior to receiving the penalty, Chastain had been set to start 13th at North Wilkesboro Speedway. He will lose this track position as he tries to remain in contention for The Chase.
Austin Hill (No. 33) and Connor Zilisch (No. 88) did not qualify due to rain washing out the session. They will both start at the rear of the field due to NASCAR's metric. Hill will line up 33rd while Zilisch will line up 32nd.
The Cup Series race will start on Sunday shortly after 7 p.m. ET. TNT and truTV will provide coverage with Adam Alexander, Steve Letarte, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the booth.
