Three NASCAR Cup Series drivers have been hit with punishments for Sunday's race at Darlington.

NASCAR technical inspections take place each weekend at every track, both pre-race and post-race, ensuring all cars are legal and within the rules.

Teams are allowed to fail once, make adjustments, and try again without punishment, but if a team fails tech twice, they receive a mandatory penalty. The punishments get more severe as the failures rack up, but all teams must pass before they are allowed to compete.

Following inspection ahead of practice and qualifying on Saturday, three teams have found themselves falling foul of the rules and will now pay a price for the remainder of the weekend.

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The three cars in question are Chase Elliott's No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, Chris Buescher's No. 17 RFK Racing Ford, and the No. 66. Garage 66 entry driven by Timmy Hill.

All teams have now each had their car chief ejected for the remainder of this weekend's event, but that isn't the only punishment NASCAR has sent their way.

On top of that, all three of the above drivers have lost their pit stall selections for Sunday's race, which will affect them and their positioning every time they come down pit road.

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 Garage 66 and the No. 66 car above.

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

The website also outlines 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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