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NASCAR ejects 4 car chiefs, 1 engineer after Cup Series tech claims Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain at Bristol

johnby: John Jamison04/11/26johndjamison

The NASCAR Cup Series is set for the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway tomorrow, but five cars weren’t quite up to snuff. The teams of Kyle Larson, Ross Chastain, Cole Custer, Michael McDowell, and Chad Finchum are all facing personnel ejections after failing inspection twice.

While the teams will still be allowed to qualify, the impact of the failures can’t be understated. Not only will the No. 5 Hendrick Chevy of Kyle Larson, the No. 1 Trackhouse Chevy of Ross Chastain, the No. 66 Garage 66 Ford of Chad Finchum, the No. 41 Haas Factory Chevy of Cole Custer, and the No. 71 Spire Chevy of Michael McDowell lose a key crew member, but the teams will also lose their pit stall selection. They will be assigned the remaining stalls after the rest of the NASCAR Cup field chooses.

Larson, Finchum, Chastain, and Custer will go without their car chiefs. Michael McDowell and the No. 71 team will be down an engineer.

William Sawalich wins Bristol NASCAR O’Reilly Pole, lineup set

William Sawalich is making the most of his first career NASCAR O’Reilly Series win last weekend. Carrying the momentum through, he won the pole for the Suburban Propane 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway after qualifying on Saturday afternoon, setting the tone for a night race at The Last Great Colosseum.

Full lineup:
1. William Sawalich
2. Sheldon Creed
3. Kyle Larson
4. Brandon Jones
5. Sam Mayer
6. Taylor Gray
7. Justin Allgaier
8. Carson Kvapil
9. Parker Retzlaff
10. Brennan Poole
11. Ryan Sieg
12. Jesse Love
13. Jeb Burton
14. Corey Day
15. Connor Zilisch
16. Sammy Smith
17. Brent Crews
18. Anthony Alfredo
19. Jeremy Clements
20. Kyle Sieg
21. Dean Thompson
22. Harrison Burton
23. Austin Hill
24. Logan Bearden
25. Austin Green
26. Lavar Scott
27. Josh Bilicki
28. Gray Gauliding
29. Josh Williams
30. Blaine Perkins
31. Mason Maggio
32. Patrick Staropoli
33. Ryan Ellis
34. JJ Yeley
35. Garrett Smithley
36. Joey Gase
37. Blake Lothian
38. Rajah Caruth – DNS