The No. 23 Toyota of 23XI Racing failed pre-race technical inspection twice at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon, resulting in the ejection of a crew member and loss of pit selection.
NASCAR officials barred car chief Zachary Marquardt for the remainder of the weekend, which will culminate with the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday (6 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Additionally, the team lost its pit selection for Sunday’s race, the longest of the NASCAR Cup Series schedule.
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Bubba Wallace, driver of the No. 23 Toyota, is slated to start seventh at Charlotte after Saturday’s practice and qualifying sessions were canceled due to rain.
This marks the third consecutive points race in which 23XI Racing has seen one of its teams fail pre-race inspection twice. The No. 45 Toyota, piloted by Tyler Reddick, failed inspection at both Kansas Speedway and Darlington Raceway. The latter resulted in a 10-point penalty in drivers and owners’ standings in addition to the weekend ousting of crew chief Billy Scott, with officials citing Section 14.11.2.1.A of the NASCAR Rule Book, which states that, “Any and all ballast added to the vehicle must be secured inside a ballast container(s). … Additional ballast containers will not be permitted to be added to the chassis.”