NASCAR confirms two penalties at Chicagoland and three cars set for further teardown

NASCAR has confirmed penalties for two O'Reilly Auto Parts Series teams following Saturday's race at Chicagoland Speedway.

Brandon Jones ran out as the winner of the Cuervo 300, beating Chase Elliott to the black and white checkered flag in an exciting finish, and his win was made official when his car passed post-race technical inspection.

However, that wasn't the case for all cars. NASCAR confirmed post-race that both the No. 0 Chevrolet driven by Cole Custer to ninth and the No. 54 Toyota driven by Taylor Gray to seventh were found to have one lug nut not safe and secure.

As a result of this, both cars have now been punished, losing their pit selection for the next O'Reilly Series race at Echopark Speedway (Atlanta).

Post-race at Chicagoland, NASCAR also confirmed that three cars are set to face further scrutiny at its R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina.

The cars facing this teardown are the No. 54 Toyota driven by Gray, the No. 88 Chevrolet driven by Chase Elliott, and the No. 99 Chevrolet driven by Parker Retzlaff.

Why does NASCAR inspect cars further?

What does this mean for those cars exactly? Well, cars are taken back to the R&D center from time to time, and often, it is just routine. However, if something illegal or that violated a rule were to be found during the added inspection, there would naturally be consequences.

This happened when Hendrick Motorsports' No. 17 Chevrolet, driven by Chase Elliott in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series last season, was seized post-race at Pocono.

During inspection at their R&D Center, NASCAR found that the team's vehicle violated Section 14.3.3.2.1.1 K&L (Main Frame Rail Conical Receivers) of the NASCAR Rule Book.

As a result, hefty penalties followed. Crew chief Adam Wall was suspended for three races, the team was fined $40,000, and the team was docked 40 owner points and 10 playoff points.

However, for the most part, the further inspections are for educational purposes, as outlined on NASCAR's official website: "Sometimes, NASCAR will choose cars to take back to the R&D Center, but that’s more for engine education than anything else."