BROOKLYN, Mich. – Both Richard Childress Racing entries had their qualifying times disallowed Saturday morning after post-qualifying inspection at Michigan Int’l Speedway.
The No. 3 of Austin Dillon and the No. 8 of Daniel Hemric had unapproved alternators under the hood, which led to their laps from Friday evening being thrown out.
Dillon was due to start seventh and Hemric would have started 11th in Sunday’s Consumers Energy 400, however the duo will now share the back of the grid in 37th and 38th, respectively.
In addition, the two teams were assessed L1-level penalties as a result of the infraction, meaning that crew chiefs Danny Stockman (for Dillon) and Luke Lambert (for Hemric) were fined $25,000 and both teams were docked 10 championship driver and owner points.
Friday was a day of good speed all around, as Dillon was fastest in opening practice and Hemric was fifth-quick on the time sheets, but the two drivers will have plenty of work to do now if they hope to go to victory lane and secure a spot in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
Dillon’s best career Michigan finish in the Cup Series is fourth, earned first during the August race in 2015 and equaled in the August race last year, while Hemric is making just his second-career Cup Series start at the sweeping, two-mile oval.
Hemric does have a runner-up finish at Michigan in Xfinity Series action, earned last year in a rain-shortened affair where his teammate – Dillon, appropriately enough – took the win.
The Consumers Energy 400 goes green at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, with live coverage on NBCSN, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
Home-state driver Brad Keselowski will start from the pole alongside Kevin Harvick.