On Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama, Kyle Larson couldn’t try to qualify for the race. His team, the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports, might have more trouble from NASCAR because of this.
Right before the qualifying session started, NASCAR said Larson couldn’t join. They sent his No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro back to the garage.
A spokesperson from NASCAR said they punished Larson’s team because they changed something on the car’s roof rail without permission. This happened while the car was being moved from the garage to the grid.
NASCAR might decide on more punishments next week.
Since Larson couldn’t qualify, he loses the chance to pick a good pit spot. Instead, he has to start from the back of the pack. He’ll be starting 38th, which hasn’t happened to him since the 2018 Daytona 500. Larson hasn’t won any of the 18 races he’s done at Talladega Superspeedway, but he’s come close, finishing fourth once.
Larson has been doing well recently, getting pole positions at Richmond, Martinsville Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway. He won a race this year at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and is currently leading in the regular season championship.
Michael McDowell from Front Row Motorsports got the pole position for the race. Other Ford drivers Austin Cindric and Todd Gilliland followed close behind.
Earlier this season, NASCAR found that the Stewart-Haas Racing Fords of Noah Gragson and Ryan Preece had changed something on their cars’ roof rail deflectors. Because of this, NASCAR took away 35 points from each car after inspection at the Atlanta race weekend. Atlanta is another track where drivers need to draft closely.
