NASCAR Penalizes 3 Cup Series Teams at IMS

Getty AJ Allmendinger's Chevrolet failed inspection two times.

Three Cup Series teams will lose a crew member for the race weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. NASCAR has issued penalties to three entries after they failed inspection twice.

According to the announcement from NASCAR, the No. 31 of Kaulig Racing, the No. 16 of Kaulig Racing, and the No. 26 of Team Hezeberg all failed inspection twice. AJ Allmendinger will lose car chief Andy Seuss for the weekend while Justin Haley will lose car chief Jaron Antley. Former Formula 1 driver Daniil Kvyat will lose mechanic Devin Foken.

The three entries also lost out on the opportunity to select pit stalls for the Cup Series race on Sunday, July 31. Though they all avoided bigger issues by passing inspection on the third try. This meant that they would not lose their qualifying laps or have to serve pass-through penalties at the start of the race.

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Allmendinger is the Defending Winner at IMS

GettyAJ Allmendinger won at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2021.

Allmendinger is only running a part-time schedule in the Cup Series while focusing on the Xfinity Series. However, he enters the race weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as one of the drivers to watch.

The reason for this is that Allmendinger delivered Kaulig Racing’s first Cup Series win during the inaugural Verizon 200 at The Brickyard in 2021. He took advantage of a scuffle between Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe, as well as a penalty given to Briscoe, and he jumped to the lead on the final two laps.

Allmendinger did not exactly cruise to victory. He had to hold off a charge from Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson, but he used his road course experience to maintain his spot at the front of the pack. Allmendinger crossed the finish line first, and he finally achieved his goal of kissing the bricks at IMS.

Allmendinger will now try to go back-to-back while pulling double-duty. He will compete in the Xfinity Series race after starting on the pole, and then he will take on the Cup Series race the following day.

Kvyat Makes His Cup Series Debut at IMS

GettyDaniil Kvyat will make his Cup Series debut at IMS.

The race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course will be the first ever in NASCAR for Kvyat. The former Formula 1 driver, who secured three podium finishes during his career, joined Team Hezeberg for the weekend while taking over a new entry.

Kvyat will drive the No. 26 Toyota Camry TRD as he makes his debut in a national NASCAR series. He will serve as a teammate to part-time driver Loris Hezemans, who will make his third start of the 2022 Cup Series season. Kvyat has expressed an interest in running a full Cup Series season, and this one-off at Indianapolis Motor Speedway will give him an opportunity to see how he stacks up.

While Kvyat does not have any Cup Series experience, he has made numerous starts on road courses in his career. He has 110 Formula 1 starts spread across the globe. The biggest hurdle will simply be adjusting to the Next Gen car while battling the top drivers in NASCAR.

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