Multiple Cars Fail Inspection and are Penalized at Darlington

What’s Happening?

Chase Elliott, Chris Buescher, and Timmy Hill have been penalized by NASCAR for failing pre-race inspection twice. All three drivers lost their car chief and pit selection ahead of this Sunday’s race.

Elliott, Buescher and THill cars failed twice and passed on their third time through. They had their car chief ejected and lost pit selection this weekend. https://t.co/hzsLpHtQ2d

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) March 21, 2026

Meanwhile, 23XI Racing once again showed strength this year. With a 2-tenth advantage over 3rd place, Tyler Reddick won the pole with Bubba Wallace in 2nd, locking the front row for the team. Reddick smacked the wall coming out of the final turn during his flying lap, but it is uncertain if he will need to make enough repairs to send him to the tail end of the field.

This #BuschLightPole came with a Darlington Stripe for @TylerReddick. 😅 pic.twitter.com/kZ8OyjjHPv

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) March 21, 2026

Practice Results

• Fastest Lap: Erik Jones [29.925s]
• Best Overall Average: Todd Gilliland [31.491s]
• Best 5-Lap Average: Austin Cindric [30.270s]
• Best 10-Lap Average: Austin Cindric [30.709s]
• Best 15-Lap Average: Austin Cindric [31.007s]
• Best 20-Lap Average: Tyler Reddick [31.238s]
• Best 25-Lap Average: Tyler Reddick [31.431s]
• Best 30-Lap Average: Tyler Reddick [31.610s]

Starting Lineup

Notes

• Tyler Reddick won the pole with 23XI Racing locking out the front row, but Reddick received some damage during qualifying, making it uncertain if he’ll need to be sent to the rear for repairs
• Despite starting 3rd and 6th, respectively, Chase Elliott and Chris Buescher lost their car chief and pit selection for the race after failing inspection multiple times
• Ty Gibbs seemed like one of the fastest cars, but hit the wall during qualifying and ended up mid-pack

Ones to Watch

• 23XI Racing: Once more, 23XI Racing seems like the team to beat. With blistering lap times for both cars, they not only seem fast on the short run, but also on the long run, as Reddick led the 20, 25, and 30 lap averages in practice.
• Denny Hamlin: Hamlin is the defending race winner for this event and the most recent winner as he won at Las Vegas, and though his practice or qualifying speed weren’t quite impressive, it is impossible to count out Hamlin at a track like Darlington, where he is the active driver with the most wins (5), best average finish (7.9), best average start (8.4), most top 5s (14), most top 10s (20), most lead lap finishes (24), and tied for most poles (2). Watch out for Denny Hamlin all day. He starts P9
• Erik Jones: Qualifying may have been lackluster for Jones and Legacy Motor Club, but Darlington is Jones’ best track in NASCAR, and his practice speed backs that up. He starts 24th, and while that may look bad, both of his wins here came from outside the top 10.
• Chase Briscoe: Briscoe led 309 laps on our last trip to Darlington, dominating that race, and he won 2 of the last 3 races here, including one with Stewart Haas Racing in 2024, a team that, in theory, was not a race-winning contender team. Though last year’s Goodyear 400 didn’t go well for him, it’s clear his team fixed whatever problem they had for the fall race, though the question now is if he’ll carry that speed over to this weekend. Don’t let his 23rd starting position fool you; he could be a contender in the end.

Honorable Mentions:

• Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher

Pit Stall Selections

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