McDowell, No. 71 Spire Team Incur Coke 600 Pre-Race Inspection Penalties

Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Pre-race inspection ahead of Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway has been completed, and only one car, the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, failed inspection twice.

As a result, the team and its driver, Michael McDowell, will have some disadvantages to overcome if they hope to score a win in the 600-mile crown jewel event.

One of the penalties handed to the team was a loss of pit selection, which means regardless of what position McDowell qualifies in on Saturday, the No. 71 team will be the final team to select its pit stall for Sunday's race.

In addition to pitting from the least desirable pit stall on pit road, the No. 71 team will be without its car chief, Griffin Rider, for the remainder of the weekend, as Rider was ejected due to the multiple failed inspection attempts.

Heading into Sunday's Coca-Cola 600, McDowell ranks 21st in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings, and the 40-year-old driver is just a few weeks removed from a near-miss of his third career NASCAR Cup Series win.

Utilizing a pit strategy concocted by crew chief Travis Peterson, McDowell gained the lead late in the Wurth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. McDowell would lead a total of 19 laps, but was unable to hold off eventual race-winner Joey Logano, who finally got past him with four laps remaining. A lap later, McDowell would crash, which would result in a 26th-place finish.

However, the team was encouraged by the speed of its No. 71 Chevrolets at the mile-and-a-half tracks this season.

In addition to a near-win at Texas, McDowell scored the first-ever pole position for Spire Motorsports at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, another 1.5-mile speedway, earlier this year. Understandably, the driver and team had the Coca-Cola 600 circled as a race where they could surprise.

McDowell and the No. 71 Spire Motorsports team could still go on to win Sunday's crown jewel event, but they face a much steeper uphill battle than they had prior to pre-race inspection on Saturday.