AJ Allmendinger's No. 16 team faced potential penalties after an inspection issue at Nashville Superspeedway. NASCAR has since made them official.
According to an inspection report, the No. 16 team lost its pit stall selection for Sunday's Cup Series race. Additionally, NASCAR ejected car chief Jaron Antley and confiscated his hard card due to unapproved adjustments to the splitter as the team prepared for practice.
Allmendinger, who qualified 17th, will have to start the race from the rear of the field. He will have to serve a stop-and-go penalty after taking the green flag.
The Kaulig Racing Chevrolet went through inspection before practice and qualifying at the 1.33-mile track. However, officials ordered the No. 16 back to the garage after suspecting unapproved and illegal adjustments.
NASCAR confirmed this change by re-running the car across the underbody scanning station. It ordered the team to undo the change and then made the No. 16 go through inspection once again before Allmendinger could participate in Group B practice.
Officials also made him wait 10 minutes at the start of the 25-minute session before letting him head out onto the track. NASCAR also told media members that Kaulig Racing could face penalties.
Allmendinger was the 11th-fastest during Saturday's abbreviated session. His best lap was 29.912 seconds. The veteran driver was also eighth-fastest in 10-lap average during the session. He ultimately qualified 17th for Sunday night's Cracker Barrel 400 (7 p.m. ET on Prime Video).
Allmendinger is fresh off his best performance of the Cup Series season. He completed the Coca-Cola 600 in fourth place and gained eight spots in the Cup standings. He moved to 17th and is only 13 points below the playoff cutline. However, the potential penalties could drop him in the standings after this weekend's race at Nashville Superspeedway.
"We've had three races this year where we scored one point," Allmendinger told Prime Video's Danielle Trotta when asked about the situation. "We've had three DNFs, but for the most part, we've brought a lot of speed to the race track.
"There's only been a couple of races where it felt like we just lacked speed. So I actually don't even really look at the points. Like, the only time I see the points during the week is our social media team will post them, and I'm like, 'Oh, I saw the points.'
"On the other hand, I just know that if we go out there and run well, the points will take care of themselves."