From the Orange County Register newspaper this morning: The JGR Toyotas flunked post-race inspection Sunday night when NASCAR found issues in both cars that affected the aerodynamics. Miller said Monday on Sirius XM the exact issue was “extra layers of vinyl” found under the wrap of the car — more commonly known as the paint scheme — that essentially modified that area of the lower nose on each car.
Toyota Racing Development President David Wilson said the manufacturer stood by NASCAR’s decision. “As we’ve stated throughout the Next Gen process, we applaud NASCAR’s hyper- vigilance when it comes to policing the rules on this new race car,” Wilson said. “We have been in close communication with Joe Gibbs Racing and they have acknowledged that the tape added to the front facias of the #11 and the #18 was not permissible by NASCAR’s rules.”
NASCAR’s inspection team usually tears down the first- and second-place cars at the track, and third-through fifth-place cars (such as Elliott’s Chevrolet) are also inspected. All cars go through a prerace inspection and multiple failures can result in the car losing its starting spot and getting sent to the back of the field.
NASCAR said the Toyota infractions were not caught in the prerace inspection because the wrap was not removed from the cars until after the race.
Were the JGR teams the first to push changes on the car beyond what is allowed in the rulebook?
No way. First ones to get caught? Yup. And NASCAR can only hope the punishments are a big enough deterrent for the rest of the garage to stay away from any funny business.
