Chase Elliott and Reed Sorenson both had cars that failed pre-race inspection multiple times Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway and as a result both drivers will drop to the rear before the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500.
Elliott was scheduled to start from the eighth position in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports entry, while Sorenson in the No. 7 Tommy Baldwin Racing machine was set to roll from last anyway.
Both drivers will officially be credited for their original starting spot despite dropping to the rear.
Elliott, who won Wednesday’s NASCAR All-Star Race and the $1-million prize that went along with it has five top-10 finishes in eight starts at the 1.5-mile speedway in Fort Worth. Elliott’s best finish at the track was a fourth-place effort back in 2016.
The 24-year old driver will hope to better that performance on Sunday, but he already has adversity to overcome.
Sunday will mark Sorenson’s eighth start of the 2020 season. His best finish to date was a 29th-place run at Darlington Raceway in NASCAR’s first event back from COVID. In two starts for TBR this season, Sorenson has a best finish of 37th, which came at Atlanta.
