NASCAR: Kyle Larson, two others penalized before Phoenix

Kyle Larson, William Byron and Cody Ware are set to drop to the rear ahead of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway, the Instacart 500.

Three cars failed pre-race inspection twice ahead of this afternoon’s NASCAR Cup Series race, the Instacart 500, at Phoenix Raceway, including one which won last Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and was slated to start on the front row.

The #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Kyle Larson, the #24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of William Byron and the #51 Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet of Cody Ware are those three cars, and as a result, they are set to drop to the rear ahead of today’s event.

Larson was originally set to start today’s 312-lap race around the four-turn, 1.022-mile (1.645-kilometer) oval in Avondale, Arizona on the front row in second place while Byron was set to start in 10th and Ware was set to start in 31st.

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Larson and Byron will both drop to the tail end of the outside lane due to the fact that they were slated to start in even positions while Ware will drop to the tail end of the inside lane due to the fact that he was slated to start in an odd position.

Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski, who took the pole position via NASCAR’s starting lineup formula to become the fifth different polesitter through five races this season, is still set to lead the field to the green flag and have lane choice behind the wheel of his #2 Ford.

As a result of Larson’s penalty, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell, who was originally set to start in fourth place behind the wheel of his #20 Toyota, is set to be promoted to the front row in second if Keselowski chooses the inside lane. If Keselowski chooses the outside lane, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin is set to move up from third to second behind the wheel of his #11 Toyota.

Here is the updated starting lineup for today’s Instacart 500 at Phoenix Raceway following these penalties.

Starting Lineup
1st – Brad Keselowski
2nd – Christopher Bell
3rd – Denny Hamlin
4th – Chase Elliott
5th – Martin Truex Jr.
6th – Ryan Blaney
7th – Kyle Busch
8th – Kurt Busch
9th – Joey Logano
10th – Erik Jones
11th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
12th – Michael McDowell
13th – Austin Dillon
14th – Kevin Harvick
15th – Ryan Preece
16th – Matt DiBenedetto
17th – Chris Buescher
18th – Ross Chastain
19th – Ryan Newman
20th – Cole Custer
21st – Alex Bowman
22nd – Chase Briscoe
23rd – Tyler Reddick
24th – Anthony Alfredo
25th – Bubba Wallace
26th – B.J. McLeod
27th – Daniel Suarez
28th – Aric Almirola
29th – Justin Haley
30th – J.J. Yeley
31st – Corey LaJoie
32nd – Josh Bilicki
33rd – Quin Houff
34th – James Davison
35th – Timmy Hill
36th – Kyle Larson
37th – Cody Ware
38th – William Byron

Tune in to Fox at 3:30 p.m. ET for the live broadcast of the Instacart 500 from Phoenix Raceway.