NASCAR seizes Team Penske and Spire Motorsports cars for further inspection after Darlington

NASCAR has confirmed it has seized two cars belonging to Team Penske and Spire Motorsports following the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway.

After technical inspection was complete in South Carolina, Tyler Reddick's victory in the No. 45 Toyota was made official on Sunday, with no issues revealed throughout the Cup Series field.

However, when confirming the above, NASCAR also revealed that the No. 2, driven by Austin Cindric to fifth, and the No. 77, driven by Carson Hocevar to fourth, would be taken back to their R&D Center for further inspection.

"Post-race technical inspection concluded without issue, confirming Reddick as the race winner. The Nos. 2 and 77 cars will return to the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina for further inspection," an update from NASCAR read.

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.

When inspecting the car at their R&D Center, NASCAR uncovered 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."

This happened last week after Las Vegas, with Christopher Bell's No. 20 and Erik Jones' No. 43 both inspected further at NASCAR's R&D Center with no resulting penalties.