Earnhardt, Hamlin fail inspection after pole qualifying

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) The cars of NASCAR drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Denny Hamlin have failed post-qualifying inspection for the Daytona 500 pole.

Earnhardt and Hamlin will have to start at the rear of their respective qualifying races Thursday.

Earnhardt's No. 88 Chevrolet did not meet NASCAR's minimum height requirement. Earnhardt responded to the penalties on Twitter, saying it was an eighth of an inch too low. ''That's a shame. The boys will figure out why. Makes the duels a lot more interesting,'' Earnhardt tweeted.

The track bar in Hamlin's No. 11 Toyota did not meet specifications. He also took to Twitter to jokingly explain what went wrong. He wrote: ''Crash damage.. It was the wreck I say!!! Lol.''

Earnhardt posted the 10th-fastest time in the final qualifying round. Hamlin was third fastest in the session.