Kenseth Fails Post-Race Laser Inspection, Heads to R&D Center Tuesday
The Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota of race winner Matt Kenseth failed post-race inspection Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
The car did not meet compliance in the laser inspection station (LIS) after Sunday's New Hampshire 301. The car will face further scrutiny this week at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina.
"A failure at track doesn't necessarily mean a failure once we get it back to the R&D Center," said Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio's "The Morning Drive" on Monday.
"What we're going to do, and the reason we bring it back to the R&D Center, is to look at what, if any, damage occurred to that car," O'Donnell continued. "What, if any, parts were broken? We've got the best engineers in the world, so were they manufactured to possibly break? We've got to go through all those things. If, after that, we determine if it's still a violation, we would issue a penalty."
The Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Chevrolet for race runner-up Tony Stewart passed the LIS platform post-race and will also be taken to the NASCAR R&D Center for further evaluation.