Atlanta qualifying marred by 13 cars failing to go through inspection
Friday’s qualifying session at Atlanta was blighted by inspection issues that apparently plagued 13 teams
More than a quarter of the 47 cars attempting the race didn’t get to make a qualifying attempt because they didn’t get through inspection on time. According to Fox Sports 1, NASCAR said all 13 cars were at least on their second attempt for inspection after not passing their first time through.
Jeff Gordon, one of the drivers whose car didn’t get through inspection to make a qualifying attempt, called it “embarrassing.”
“First time ever. First time for everything I guess,” Gordon said about the number of cars missing out on the first round. “This is absolutely embarrassing … I just feel so bad for my guys … to not even get a chance to go out on the race track is ridiculous. I know the fans, they deserve an apology. I don’t know how many cars there must be back here that never even got a chance to go on the track.
“I know we went through twice. When you have this many — I’ve seen five or six, you know, maybe even 10 cars, that have issues going through and certain little things, but this many cars that didn’t go, that’s not on these teams. They deserve better than this … I assume I made the race, who knows what even happens with the points going in and there’s guys that don’t have the points that I know are going home and never had the chance to get out there. It’s a big letdown for me and our series that this happened because there’s no way that this should have ever happened.”
While hedging with an “I don’t know” in typical Matt Kenseth style, the 2003 champion quipped that “Obviously they weren’t organized to get everyone through tech it appears.”
Both Cup qualifying sessions in 2015 have now had issues. In Daytona, many drivers complained about the group qualifying format, including Clint Bowyer, who was involved in a crash.
It’s not uncommon for a car to not get through pre-qualifying inspection on the first try. However, it is uncommon to have so many cars miss qualifying. NASCAR moved the qualifying session back 15 minutes from its scheduled 5:45 p.m. starting time, but that only helped a few drivers like Bowyer, who drove onto the track after clearing inspection with less than eight minutes remaining in the first round.
“We treat everybody the same,” Sprint Cup Series director Richard Buck said. “There was cars that came through there two and even a couple cars that came through three times, effort. Everybody got a fair shot at coming through there in a timely manner, and then obviously at the end, we saw the time frame and we were hustling and pushing. I was pushing all of our officials, but that pushing on the officials was — is pushing to physically keep the same accuracy when it was a mechanical job, but the laser itself, it’s automated, so there’s no — there was no difference from the first cars that went through there to the last ones.”
Alex Bowman, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Gordon, Jeb Burton, Reed Sorenson, Cole Whitt, Landon Cassill, Regan Smith, Michael Annett, Jimmie Johnson, Mike Wallace and Matt DiBenedetto were the drivers who didn’t get through the inspection line. According to the rules NASCAR uses to set the field via a rainout, Annett, DiBenedetto, Sorenson and Wallace would miss the race.
Missing qualifying is an incredibly harsh punishment for not getting through inspection on the first try. And while being sent back through the line for a violation isn’t uncommon, should it be entirely accepted? Does NASCAR need to have a rule limiting the number of times a car can go through inspection? Should any inspection attempt after the first be considered on an “if time allows” basis? Does inspection time need to be longer? Should qualifying wait if X teams have issues getting through tech? Should each car be granted a second attempt through inspection before qualifying can begin?
There are a lot of questions.
The last question could be a possible solution, though it could also prove problematic at a track with a busy schedule. There was nothing scheduled at Atlanta after qualifying, so NASCAR could have delayed the session for an hour if it needed to. However, at a track where qualifying precedes an Xfinity or Camping World Truck Series race, there’s a finite window to get qualifying in.
What happened on Friday appears to be a preventable scenario. Just don’t immediately jump to blame either NASCAR or the teams just yet.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
