After treacherous practice and qualifying sessions on Saturday at Kansas Speedway, several drivers and teams will be starting at the rear of the field for Sunday’s AdventHealth 400.
Approximately three hours before the scheduled drop of the green flag in Kansas City, Kansas, Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports reported that at least seven drivers will be falling to the rear on the pace laps, for unapproved adjustments.
Ty Gibbs, driver of the No. 54 Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing, was scheduled to start Sunday’s 400-miler from sixth place, the highest starter of the seven that will drop to the rear.
Zane Smith (18th), Chase Briscoe (19th), Ty Dillon (29th), Shane Van Gisbergen (34th), Brad Keselowski (36th), and Josh Berry (38th) will also join Gibbs at the rear of the pack.
Several of the drivers that are scheduled to drop to the rear of the field on the pace laps for “unapproved adjustments” had issues during Saturday’s on-track time at Kansas Speedway.
Gibbs, Smith, Briscoe, Van Gisbergen, and Keselowski all suffered issues with the left-rear tires going flat during Saturday afternoon’s practice session, which ended their on-track time early.
Josh Berry, on the other hand, was too aggressive during single-vehicle qualifying and scrubbed his No. 21 Motorcraft / Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the wall in Turn 3.
Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 8 Rebel Bourbon Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, had a similar issue in time trials, scrubbing the wall with the right side of his car in Turn 3.
Led by Randall Burnett, Busch’s team at RCR assessed the damage and discovered that it was only cosmetic, allowing them to avoid any unapproved adjustments and keep his 35th-place starting position.
With nothing yet 100% confirmed by NASCAR, the list of drivers starting at the rear of the field for Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway is subject to grow. Any additions will be added to this story as they are discovered.
Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher are still scheduled to lead the field to the green flag in Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway, which will take place at 3:00 PM ET on FOX Sports 1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
