A handful of NASCARCup Series teams have received penalties following inspection on Saturday at Bristol. Kyle Larson, Michael McDowell, Ross Chastain, Cole Custer, and Chad Finchum have all failed inspection twice. As a result, they all lose a crew member and pit stall selection for this weekend.
Every team except for McDowell’s had their car chiefs ejected. McDowell’s team had the engineer ejected. They will all lose pit stall selection and will pick after everyone else has gone, regardless of where they qualify. Their qualifying results will not be affected.
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NASCAR announced the penalties on Saturday afternoon just before practice and qualifying for the Cup Series. The worst part of the penalties is probably losing stall selection. A bad pit stall can really jam you up in a critical moment at a track like Bristol.
Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, crosses the finish line to win the NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 13, 2025 in Bristol, Tennessee.
Kyle Larson is more than capable of winning this race, regardless of his stall or whether he has a car chief at the track. He has led an unreal number of laps at Bristol in the last couple of seasons. If Cliff Daniels gets the No. 5 hooked up how Larson likes it, there won’t be any stopping them.
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As for guys like Chastain and McDowell, they are hoping to get the most out of Sunday’s race. Neither driver has a great record at Bristol in their Cup Series careers. Still, there could be a surprise or two on race day.
As for Cole Custer and Chad Finchum, this is the price of doing business. Haas Factory Team has to do all they can to get as much out of the car and the weekend as possible. They are in a new alliance with Hendrick Motorsports and just changed over to Chevrolet, too. So, there are growing pains.
Meanwhile, Finchum and his crew are doing what they can to finish the race this weekend. Get the car back clean on Sunday night going home to North Carolina, and it will all be fine.
This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Apr 11, 2026, where it first appeared in the Racing section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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