NASCAR: 3 drivers penalized before All-Star event
By Asher Fair
Three drivers will be sent to the rear of the field for the NASCAR All-Star Open ahead of the All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway.
Four spots in tonight’s NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway remain open, and three of them will be decided by the All-Star Open.
The three winners of the three stages, two 20-lap stages and one 10-lap stage, of this 50-lap race around the four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.414-kilometer) oval in Fort Worth, Texas will lock into the six-round, 100-lap All-Star Race.
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A total of 17 drivers are already locked into the All-Star Race. In addition to the three winners of the Open stages, the winner of the Fan Vote will also lock into the race.
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But before the qualifying race, three drivers have been penalized and are set to drop to the rear of the field before the green flag flies. Those three drivers are Chip Ganassi Racing’s Ross Chastain, Team Penske’s Austin Cindric and MBM Motorsports’ David Starr.
Chastain was set to start in fifth place behind the wheel of his #42 Chevrolet, but a violation was found in pre-race inspection. The aero ducts and/or an aero duct opening on his did not conform to NASCAR rule specifications, per rules 20.4.2.d and 20.4.4.a.
His crew chief, Phil Surgen, was ejected from the event, and the team was fined $25,000. He is set to drop to the tail end of the inside lane and start the race in 21st.
Cinrdric was set to start in 16th place behind the wheel of his #33 Ford, but he is set to drop to the tail end of the outside lane after his car failed pre-race inspection twice. He is set to start in 20th.
Starr was set to start in 22nd place (last) anyway, so he won’t actually lose any positions after he was cited for unapproved adjustments on his #13 Toyota.
Here is the updated starting lineup for the 2021 All-Star Open at Texas Motor Speedway.
Starting Lineup
1st – Tyler Reddick
2nd – Chris Buescher
3rd – Matt DiBenedetto
4th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
5th – Daniel Suarez
6th – Bubba Wallace
7th – Chase Briscoe
8th – Erik Jones
9th – Corey LaJoie
10th – Aric Almirola
11th – Quin Houff
12th – Anthony Alfredo
13th – Josh Bilicki
14th – James Davison
15th – Cody Ware
16th – B.J. McLeod
17th – Justin Haley
18th – Garrett Smithley
19th – Timmy Hill
20th – Austin Cindric
21st – Ross Chastain
22nd – David Starr
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Tune in to Fox Sports 1 now for the live broadcast of the All-Star Open from Texas Motor Speedway, and stay tuned in at 8:00 p.m. ET for the live broadcast of the All-Star Race.