Coming off of what might have been his best career all-around NASCAR Cup Series oval performance in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, which culminated in a fourth place finish, Kaulig Racing's A.J. Allmendinger set himself up quite nicely to potentially jump above the playoff cut line in Sunday's Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.
Allmendinger, who is the second driver below the cutoff and sits just 13 points behind, qualified on row nine in a respectable 17th place. However, he will not get to take advantage of that starting position for this 300-lap race around the four-turn, 1.333-mile (2.145-kilometer) Lebanon, Tennessee oval.
After the No. 16 team made a change to the No. 16 Chevrolet's splitter after post-qualifying technical inspection, NASCAR was forced to crack down.
Allmendinger is set to drop to the rear of the field, effectively giving him a 39th place starting position, and then he must do a stop-and-go penalty in the pits after taking the green flag, meaning that he is set to lose at least a lap right from the get-go.
Additionally, the No. 16 team lost their pit selection, and car chief Jaron Antley was both ejected and had his hard card confiscated, which is probably the biggest evidence that NASCAR's overall stance on the adjustment that was made is a massive no-no.
Note that because Allmendinger was set to start on the inside of row nine, everybody on the inside lane who initially qualified behind him is set to move up a row. For example, 19th place qualifier Ryan Preece is now technically set to start in 17th, while 18th place qualifier Justin Haley is set to remain in 18th.
Here is an updated starting lineup, with Allmendinger set to drop to the back.
NASCAR Cup Series updated starting lineup at Nashville
1st - Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
2nd - Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
3rd - William Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
4th - Tyler Reddick, No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota
5th - Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
6th - Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford
7th - Christopher Bell, No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
8th - Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
9th - Joey Logano, No. 22 Team Penske Ford
10th - Chris Buescher, No. 17 RFK Racing Ford
11th - Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
12th - Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
13th - Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet
14th - Erik Jones, No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
15th - Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
16th - Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
17th - Ryan Preece, No. 60 RFK Racing Ford
18th - Justin Haley, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
19th - Austin Dillon, No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
20th - Josh Berry, No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
21st - Shane van Gisbergen, No. 88 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
22nd - Ty Gibbs, No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
23rd - Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
24th - Alex Bowman, No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
25th - Zane Smith, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford
26th - Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
27th - Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Ford
28th - Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
29th - Ty Dillon, No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
30th - Noah Gragson, No. 4 Front Row Motorsports Ford
31st - Corey Heim, No. 67 23XI Racing Toyota
32nd - Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
33rd - Todd Gilliland, No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
34th - Cody Ware, No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford
35th - Riley Herbst, No. 35 23XI Racing Toyota
36th - John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
37th - Chad Finchum, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford
38th - J.J. Yeley, No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevrolet
39th - A.J. Allmendinger, No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
Amazon Prime Video is currently providing live coverage of the Cracker Barrel 400 from Nashville Superspeedway.