NASCAR Inspection Penalties Iowa: Who Failed Tech?
Two NASCAR Cup Series teams failed pre-race technical inspection on Saturday afternoon, leading to penalties ahead of Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350. The NASCAR Cup Series field is officially set for Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol, but two teams will head into race day with an added obstacle after failing pre-race inspection twice.
According to the sanctioning body, the No. 60 Ford Mustang of RFK Racing and the No. 34 Ford Mustang of Front Row Motorsports both failed inspection two times.
Ejections and Pit Stall Consequences
Under NASCAR’s inspection procedures, teams that fail twice before a race lose their pit selection for that event while also losing their car chief for race day. As a result, both teams’ car chiefs were ejected for the balance of the weekend and lost the ability to select their pit stalls for Sunday’s race at Iowa Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
- The No. 34 team of Front Row loses car chief Joe Marra.
- Ryan Preece’s No. 60 team also failed inspection twice, resulting in car chief Jerry Cook being ejected.
The penalties are especially significant because Iowa Speedway places a premium on track position. Both cars passed on the third attempt, so there will be no further penalties. Neither penalty changes the drivers’ official starting positions.
Qualifying Results and Driver Outlook
With the cars passing inspection on the third attempt, both Ryan Preece and Todd Gilliland had the opportunity to qualify at Iowa Speedway. Gilliland, the winner of the $1 million In-Season Challenge, qualified 17th. He will line up next to Carson Hocevar on the ninth row.
Preece qualified 35th on a day when the entire RFK Racing roster struggled. He finished fifth in his first Iowa appearance with RFK Racing last season and earned his first career NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series win in 2017 at Iowa. His goal at this point is to use the short tracks to get back above The Chase cutline after struggling in the months of May and June.
I mean Iowa, for sure, Richmond, New Hampshire are all places that I would think we should be a threat, Preece explained. We definitely, after Indy, we made sure we put a lot of effort into coming to Iowa, and and I feel like it’s going to translate.
Leo Falsafi is a digital marketing veteran and senior journalist at Virlan.co, where he covers the intersection of digital marketing, gaming, and breaking US trending news. With nearly two decades of hands-on experience in SEO and digital strategy, Leo has consulted for and scaled hundreds of companies. His deep industry roots allow him to deliver sharp, fact-checked insights and analysis on the trends shaping today’s digital landscape.
