Image by Nigel Kinrade/LAT
Truex Jr misses ACS qualifying
Martin Truex Jr. was not permitted to qualify Saturday afternoon at Auto Club Speedway.
The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota failed inspection three times ahead of single-car qualifying. As a result, Truex did not get to qualify, so he will have to start in the rear of the 38-car field for the Auto Club 400 (Sunday, 3:30 p.m. ET).
Additionally, Truex's car chief, Blake Harris, has been ejected for the remainder of the weekend. Next weekend in Phoenix, the team will have a 30-minute practice penalty.
"It's been difficult for us," crew chief James Small told Fox Sports 1 as qualifying started. "We failed a really small spot on the body first time through. Mechanically everything was super legal. Then rolled back through the next time, another spot on the body came up, and then we failed mechanical. The right rear toe jumped crazy all of a sudden."
The car passed inspection on its fourth trip through.
"We've got a really fast car," continued Small, "and we'll be fine tomorrow."
Truex is a former winner at Auto Club Speedway from 2018. In the last five Auto Club races, Truex has led 224 laps.
Kelly Crandall
Kelly has been on the NASCAR beat full-time since 2013, and joined RACER as chief NASCAR writer in 2017. Her work has also appeared in NASCAR.com, the NASCAR Illustrated magazine, and NBC Sports. A corporate communications graduate from Central Penn College, Crandall is a two-time George Cunningham Writer of the Year recipient from the National Motorsports Press Association.
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