Two car chiefs have been ejected from Atlanta Motor Speedway after their teams’ respective cars failed pre-qualifying inspection multiple times.
The No. 36 Front Row Motorsports Ford of driver Matt Tifft and No. 52 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet of driver BJ McLeod failed inspection multiple times Friday prior to three rounds of Busch Pole qualifying. Their car chiefs — Brandon Lee (36) and Mike Chance (52), respectively — won’t be able to return to the garage during the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 weekend.
Previously, a car chief was not ejected unless a team failed inspection three times. Under NASCAR’s 2019 deterrence model, two failures lead to a car chief ejection.
Last month NASCAR introduced a system where race-winning teams found in violation of the rule book post-race would be disqualified. Additionally, post-race inspection is done at track following the event, with penalties — if any — handed out then instead of following a mid-week teardown at the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina.
