Two car chiefs ejected in Richmond after NASCAR Cup inspection issues

Once again, a couple of NASCAR Cup Series teams had a little bit of trouble getting through pre-race inspection. At Richmond Raceway, it was the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Christopher Bell and the No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet of Cody Ware.

Both cars failed twice, but passed on their third attempt. One more failure would have resulted in an end-of-line starting position and a drive through penalty after the green flag, but both teams avoided that.

Instead, JGR car chief Clay Chris Sherwood and RWR car chief  Dave Jone have been ejected from the facility for the remainder of the race weekend.

Both also lose their pit stall selection, meaning they will get whatever two stalls remain after the rest of the field chooses. That won’t impact Ware much, who didn’t take part in qualifying after a practice spin. However, that could be costly for Bell, who qualified eighth on the grid.

Ryan Blaney earned pole position for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond, and this will be the fourth time this year the No. 12 Team Penske Ford leads the field to the green flag — a career-high for Blaney.

It’s been an unfortunate weekend for Bell, even beyond this inspection snafu. He was set to take part in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race on Friday night with Halmar-Friesen Racing, but but the race was postponed to Saturday due to inclement weather. Bell had to bow out of the event as a result of that, and will be replaced by Leland Honeyman Jr. in the No. 62 Toyota.

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