NASCAR has announced a late disqualification after the Daytona Duels, knocking a driver out of the Daytona 500 field.
Anthony Alfredo was visibly emotional after finishing as the highest-ranked Open car in the second Duel of the night, locking himself into Sunday's race...for about an hour, before it was announced that his car failed tech inspection.
That announcement means that B.J. McLeod will advance into the Great American Race in Alfredo's place, with NASCAR confirming that a transaxle cooling hose was loose on his car, with another hose for driver cooling disconnected in a way which altered the car's aerodynamics.
The Beard Motorsports driver claimed after the disqualification that the hose came loose when he was hit during the race, while his crew chief complained that the issue wasn't serious enough to warrant disqualification. The decision cannot be appealed.
Alfredo: It feels like I'm drowning
Alfredo told The Athletic: “I was on top of the world, and now it feels like I’m at the bottom of it. It feels like I’m drowning.”
On the other end of the emotional spectrum, McLeod said: “I would have much rather raced Anthony for it and gotten in on the track. But we’re going to know perseverance and never quitting and always working to be here … is what ultimately put us in the race on Sunday.”
Speaking to the media after the decision was made, NASCAR Cup Series managing director Brad Moran said: “Usually, they’re riveted and, as well, they’re taped. There’s many ways of taping them. Obviously, different qualities of tape and so on. And unfortunately, this one was only taped, and the tape didn’t hold at all.”
“Do we know how it came off? No,” Moran added. “… If anything is found like this during the season, it would be a DQ in a race. We’ve been consistent with that, and we always will be, because there are some reasons why something like this could come loose or fall off.”
| Pos | Driver (Car No.) | Team (Manufacturer) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle Busch (#8) | Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 2 | Chase Briscoe (#19) | Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) |
| 3 | Joey Logano (#22) | Team Penske (Ford) |
| 4 | Chase Elliott (#9) | Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 5 | Ryan Blaney (#12) | Team Penske (Ford) |
| 6 | Carson Hocevar (#77) | Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 7 | Austin Dillon (#3) | Richard Childress Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 8 | Kyle Larson (#5) | Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 9 | Brad Keselowski (#6) | Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing (Ford) |
| 10 | Michael McDowell (#71) | Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 11 | John Hunter Nemechek (#42) | Legacy Motor Club (Toyota) |
| 12 | Christopher Bell (#20) | Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) |
| 13 | Shane Van Gisbergen (#97) | Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 14 | Josh Berry (#21) | Wood Brothers Racing (Ford) |
| 15 | Daniel Suarez (#7) | Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 16 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (#47) | HYAK Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 17 | Casey Mears (#66) | Garage 66 (Ford) |
| 18 | Todd Gilliland (#34) | Front Row Motorsports (Ford) |
| 19 | Ryan Preece (#60) | RFK Racing (Ford) |
| 20 | Ty Gibbs (#54) | Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) |
| 21 | Alex Bowman (#48) | Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 22 | Denny Hamlin (#11) | Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota) |
| 23 | Cole Custer (#41) | Haas Factory Team (Ford) |
| 24 | Erik Jones (#43) | Legacy Motor Club (Toyota) |
| 25 | Noah Gragson (#4) | Front Row Motorsports (Ford) |
| 26 | Tyler Reddick (#45) | 23XI Racing (Toyota) |
| 27 | Bubba Wallace (#23) | 23XI Racing (Toyota) |
| 28 | Riley Herbst (#35) | 23XI Racing (Toyota) |
| 29 | Corey Heim (#67) | 23XI Racing (Toyota) |
| 30 | Zane Smith (#38) | Front Row Motorsports (Ford) |
| 31 | Jimmie Johnson (#84) | Legacy Motor Club (Toyota) |
| 32 | Connor Zilisch (#88) | Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 33 | Cody Ware (#51) | Rick Ware Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 34 | Ty Dillon (#10) | Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 35 | AJ Allmendinger (#16) | Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 36 | Austin Cindric (#2) | Team Penske (Ford) |
| 37 | Ross Chastain (#1) | Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 38 | B.J. McLeod (#78) | Live Fast Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 39 | William Byron (#24) | Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 40 | Justin Allgaier (#40) | JR Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 41 | Chris Buescher (#17) | Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing (Ford) |
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