The #18 M&M’s Toyota of Kyle Busch failed post race inspection at Pocono with a height issue on the left-front end. The car will be taken to NASCAR’s R&D center, any penalties normally announced Tuesday.
UPDATE: Kyle Busch’s third place finishing car in Sunday’s 5-Hour Energy 500 at Pocono raceway failed post race inspection. Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was found to be too low after NASCAR officials inspected it three times following Sunday’s race. Busch’s left front was too low and NASCAR will take the car back to its R&D Center in Concord, N.C. While he will be allowed to keep his third place finish a fine and points penalty will more than likely be assessed. “it’s the last thing I expected – I have as many questions as you,” said crew chief Dave Rogers.(CBS Sports)
UPDATE 2: NASCAR officials said the front left was too low on the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Crew chief Dave Rogers said the car was 1/16th of an inch outside the tolerances already allowed by the governing body. Because the car passed pre-race inspection Rogers speculated the violation was the result of a broken part. Because NASCAR doesn’t typically differentiate whether the violation was intentional or unintentional, Busch faces a potential fine, points deduction or both. He currently is fifth in points, 25 behind leader Carl Edwards who lost his big lead after an engine failure left him 37th at the 2.5-mile track. Rogers said it was a “huge surprise” when NASCAR informed him the car failed and would be taken to the Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C., for further evaluation. “It’s disappointing,” Rogers said. “I can’t tell you a whole lot right now. We sit on bump stops in these race cars. Your springs often don’t damage. We were struggling all weekend and we went back to what we raced last spring when we finished second. We put the same package in — same front shocks, same front springs. We went through tech just fine last year, but obviously everything has a year on it and everything is mileaged out. I don’t have any excuses for you. It’s the last thing I expected after the race.” Rogers said there was a lot of damage on the left front fender, apparently from bottoming out on the rough Pocono surface. He said Busch also got into the fence on the right side. “There is plenty of body damage, but nothing that I could look at and say,’Hey, NASCAR, here’s a problem,'” Rogers said. “I would just be trying to make excuses if I tried to justify it.”(ESPN.com)(6-12-2011)
