Overview
- Two Cup cars — the No. 17 of Chris Buescher and the No. 51 of Cody Ware — failed NASCAR’s pre-race inspection twice at World Wide Technology Raceway on Saturday and had their car chiefs ejected for the weekend.
- Each team lost pit-stall selection and will be assigned the final available stalls on pit road regardless of qualifying results, which reduces strategic options for pit entry, service and track position.
- Both cars passed inspection on a third attempt and remain eligible to start Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300, so they avoided the harsher in-race penalties that follow a third failure.
- NASCAR’s Next Gen checks use templates and laser measurements and enforce a clear escalation: a second failed inspection triggers crew ejections and loss of pit choice while a third failure brings stiffer race penalties.
- The enforcement follows recent cases at Richmond and Darlington and creates a recurring operational risk for teams during the Chase, with the setback especially consequential for Buescher given his 11th-place position in the standings.