The EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix race weekend got off to a less-than-ideal start for the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing team and the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing team on Saturday morning at Circuit of the Americas.
Both teams failed pre-race inspection twice, which will result in a team member being removed from the premises for the remainder of the weekend.
Michael Alexander, the car chief for Kyle Busch and the No. 8 RCR team, and Travis Young, the car chief for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing team, were each ejected by NASCAR following pre-race inspection, which was conducted before practice/qualifying on Saturday morning.
As both cars passed inspection on their third attempt, there will be no further penalties dished out, and each car will be permitted to take a qualifying lap and start the race from their earned positions in Saturday’s qualifying session for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix.
Busch, who started the season off with excellent speed at Daytona, Atlanta, and Las Vegas, has fallen a bit back to Earth the last two races with finishes of 22nd and 25th at Phoenix and Bristol. The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion has fallen to 16th in the championship standings heading into this weekend’s race as a result.
The No. 8 team will want to stop the bleeding this weekend.
Stenhouse, the 2023 Daytona 500 champion and Playoff contender last season, likewise would like to jumpstart his season. The driver of the No. 47 machine nabbed a sixth-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the second race of the year, but it’s been rough finishes in every other race this season.
