UPDATE: Joe Gibbs Racing will not appeal the penalty.
ORIGINAL POST: NASCAR officials disqualified the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota on Saturday afternoon, throwing out Christopher Bell’s third-place finish in the NASCAR Xfinity Series after his car failed post-race inspection.
According to Wayne Auton, managing director for the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the No. 20 failed the height station of post-race inspection, which is standard procedure for the top-five finishing vehicles and a sixth selected at random. Bell was demoted to a last-place result in the 38-car field.
“When we put the sticks on, the car failed both front heights and the right rear,” Auton said. “The front was extremely low. The right rear was a little high, which is normally what you see when a car on the front sort of tilts toward the front. It’s going to come up, it has to go somewhere.”
Additionally, NASCAR officials announced that the race-winning Stewart-Haas Racing No. 00 Ford of Cole Custer was found with one lug nut not safely secured after a post-race check.
— NASCAR.com —
Wayne Auton said they took top-5 and a random to the height sticks. Said Bell's car was too low both on the front and too high on the right rear. #nascar @NASCARONFOX
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) June 29, 2019
Wayne Auton, managing director of the #NASCAR Xfinity Series, says race damage was not a factor in @CBellRacing’s @JoeGibbsRacing car failing inspection after the race. pic.twitter.com/M61EXVdVym
— Dustin Long (@dustinlong) June 29, 2019