NASCAR has penalized Front Row Motorsports and the No. 38 team ahead of the Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway.
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According to information provided by the sanctioning body, the No. 38 team was observed making unapproved adjustments to the underbody of Zane Smith's car during practice/pre-qualifying adjustments. Officials sent the car back through inspection before Smith headed out onto the track.
The result of these unapproved adjustments is that Smith will have to drop to the rear of the field for the start of Sunday's Cup Series race (3:30 p.m. ET on FS1). He will also have to serve a pass through penalty after taking the green flag.
Additionally, NASCAR has ejected car chief Will Norris for the rest of the weekend.
Smith had qualified 24th overall, putting him ahead of teammates Todd Gilliland (qualified 30th) and Noah Gragson (qualified 35th). Now, he will start behind his teammates before ultimately falling one lap down. Phoenix Raceway is a 1-mile oval where pit stops under green flag conditions cost precious time.
This penalty will also negatively impact Smith as he tries to remain in contention for a spot in The Chase. He kicked off the season with a sixth-place finish in the Daytona 500. He then finished seventh at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta) and 33rd at Circuit of the Americas.
He left the Texas road course 14th in the standings and above the early cutline for the postseason. He had a 10-point advantage over Ty Gibbs, the first driver out of a spot in The Chase.
The California native will now try to recover from the penalty at a track where he has mixed results.
He has made five starts at Phoenix Raceway in the Cup Series, and he has posted an average finish of 27.4 with one DNF. His best finish was ninth in last year's spring race, but he also has four finishes of 29th or worse.
