NASCAR Ejects Two Crew Chiefs for Remainder of Daytona 500 Weekend
NASCAR ejected the originally listed crew chief for two NASCAR Cup Series teams on Thursday following Wednesday's pre-race inspection for Sunday's Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. According to an update from NASCAR, the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports entry, and the No. 51 Rick Ware Racing entry were found to have improper weights during the inspection process.
Chris Lawson, who serves as the crew chief for Todd Gilliland and the No. 34 team will be replaced by Kevyn Rebolledo for The Great American Race. Rebolledo typically serves as an engineer for the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports team.
Billy Plourde was set to serve as the crew chief for Cody Ware and the No. 51 team but will be replaced by Tommy Baldwin Jr., Rick Ware Racing's competition director, for the remainder of the weekend.
Both the No. 34 and No. 51 cars are Chartered entries, which mean they have a guaranteed starting spot in Sunday's Daytona 500 regardless of their finishes in Thursday's Duel Qualifier Races.
In Wednesday's Daytona 500 qualifying session, where Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric secured the top-two starting spots for Sunday's Great American Race, Gilliland slotted in 14th. Ware ranked 45th of the 45 cars that took a timed lap in the session.
Earlier in the day on Wednesday, Ware was 33rd-fastest in opening practice for the Daytona 500, while Gilliland was 39th-fastest in that session.
Both drivers are seeking their first career NASCAR Cup Series race win this weekend.
Gilliland, 24, and Ware, 29, each have a career-best finish of fourth in the NASCAR Cup Series. To date, Gilliland has made 108 career starts in the series while Ware has accumulated 106.
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Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.