Kaulig Racing and AJ Allmendinger nearly scored their second NASCAR Cup Series win together a few weeks ago at Circuit of the Americas. But if the 40-year old driver is going to get the No. 16 machine into victory lane at Martinsville Speedway, he’s going to need a lot of help.
In pre-qualifying inspection, Allmendinger’s No. 16 car failed the first three times through the inspection bay.
As a result, Allmendinger’s engineer Michael Brookes was ejected for the race weekend, the No. 16 car was not permitted to turn a qualifying lap (Allmendinger will start last and have last choice in pit selection) and he’ll have to serve a pass-through penalty after the green flag in Saturday night’s race.
Without a doubt, Allmendinger will start the race more than a lap behind the leaders, as it only takes around 20-seconds to complete a lap at the paperclip.
Of course, Allmendinger could receive a free pass if there is a caution super early in the race, but if the opening green flag run goes 20-or-more laps, Allmendinger could find himself in trouble.
No other cars failed inspection three times.
