Five NASCAR Cup Series drivers are set for penalties ahead of Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, including reigning champion Kyle Larson.

Practice and qualifying for the event took place on Saturday, and before it all started, all Cup Series cars were required to undergo and pass technical inspection.

Unfortunately, though, there were several cars that failed inspection multiple times before eventually passing, and they have been punished as a result.

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Kyle Larson among NASCAR penalties at Bristol

The cars in question were:

  • Kyle Larson, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
  • Michael McDowell, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
  • Ross Chastain, No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet
  • Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet
  • Chad Finchum, No. 66 Garage 66 Ford

As per Claire B Lang, Larson, Chastain, Custer and Finchum have now been hit with double penalties ahead of Sunday's race, losing both their pit stall selection and having their car chiefs ejected.

Interestingly, the punishment for McDowell is slightly different. The No. 71 team has lost their pit stall selection, but they have had an engineer ejected, not their car chief.

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What is NASCAR tech?

Every weekend, no matter the race, track, or event, NASCAR requires all Cup Series teams to pass inspection before hitting the circuit.

If a team fails tech on the first instance, it must fix the issue and repeat the process all over again until it passes.

If a car fails once, there is no punishment. However, if you fail twice or more, punishments are handed out, such as in the case of the drivers above.

According to NASCAR, the point of inspections is to level the sport's playing field as much as possible.

They also outline the five stations of a standard inspection, which are as follows:

Station 1: Car is elevated to visually inspect the nose, under the body and inside.

Stations 2-3: Body is visually inspected using a handheld template to ensure the body conforms to regulations.

Station 4: Optical scanning is used to inspect the chassis and body of car.

Station 5:Holding blocks are removed and final safety inspection is done.

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