NASCAR Cup Darlington

Three NASCAR Cup car chiefs ejected after Darlington inspection failures

Three Cup teams failed twice in pre-race inspection at Darlington, including Chase Elliott

Nick DeGroot

Edited: Mar 22, 2026, 3:31 AM

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Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Photo by: David Jensen / Getty Images

Darlington is the latest race to feature some inspection issues at the start of the weekend. Ahead of NASCAR Cup practice and qualifying, three Cup teams failed inspection twice, resulting in some penalties.

They were the #9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of Chase Elliott, the #17 RFK Racing Ford of Chris Buescher, and the lone open entry in the field -- the #66Garage 66 Ford of Timmy Hill.

As a result, Elliott's car chief Matt Barndt, Buescher's car chief Josh Sisco, and Hill's car chief Dylan Roberts have all been ejected. All three have also lost their pit stall selection, and will get whatever stalls are leftover after the rest of the 37-car field selects their own stalls post-qualifying.

All cars passed on their third attempt, so they will be allowed to qualify and will not face any further penalties.

Inspection failures like this are somewhat common as teams work to find the absolute limit , with four at Las Vegas one week ago (Byron, Cindric, Allmendinger, TDillon), and two at Atlanta a couple of weeks prior (ADillon, McLeod).

Photos from Darlington - Saturday

Joey Logano, Team Penske

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

AJ Allmendinger, Kaulig Racing

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Ty Dillon, Kaulig Racing

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports, Riley Herbst, 23XI Racing

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Austin Cindric, Team Penske

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing, Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Brad Keselowski, RFK Racing

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Chris Buescher, RFK Racing

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports, Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Cody Ware, Rick Ware Racing

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Crew chief Cliff Daniels, Hendrick Motorsports

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Timmy Hill, Garage 66

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Connor Zilisch, Trackhouse Racing

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

John Hunter Nemechek, Legacy Motor Club

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Daniel Suárez, Spire Motorsports

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Erik Jones, Legacy Motor Club

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Josh Berry, Wood Brothers Racing

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., HYAK Motorsports

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Noah Gragson, Front Row Motorsports

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Michael McDowell, Spire Motorsports

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports

Darlington - Saturday, in photos

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