Championship contender Chase Elliott, who faces a must-win situation this weekend at Phoenix if he wants to battle for a title in Homestead, was among four of the cars that failed pre-qualifying inspection twice on Saturday.
As a result, Elliott’s team as well as William Byron’s, Matt DiBenedetto’s and Ross Chastain’s will lose their car chief for the remainder of the weekend and they will all be docked 15 minutes of practice time next week in Homestead.
Luckily, the four cars passed inspection on their third pass through.
As a result, they will all have a chance to qualify and will start from their given starting position. Had they failed a third time, the cars would not have been allowed to qualify and would have started Sunday’s Bluegreen Vacations 500 from the rear.
It has been a difficult Playoffs Round of 8 for Elliott. He suffered an engine failure early at Martinsville and then a week ago at Texas, he slapped the wall on lap nine ending his chance at a good day.
