NASCAR Cup Gateway
Two car chiefs ejected from Gateway after NASCAR Cup inspection failures
Chase contender Chris Buescher, as well as Cody Ware struggled to get through pre-race inspection
Nick DeGroot
Edited: Sep 12, 2026, 10:51 PM
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Chris Buescher, RFK Racing
Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images
In pre-race inspection at WWT Raceway (Gateway), the No. 17 RFK Racing Ford of Chris Buescher and the No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet of Cody Ware failed twice, resulting in some at-track penalties.
Buescher enters this race 11th in the Chase for the championship and leading the way for RFK, while Ware is last among full-time drivers in 35h in the standings.
As a result of the issues, No. 17 RFK car chief Joshua Sisco and No. 51 RWR car chief Dave Jones have been ejected and can take no further part in the race weekend.
They've also lost their pit stall selection, so regardless of qualifying, Buescher and Ware will get the final two available stalls on pit road -- the ones no one else wanted.
Both car struggled in the practice session that followed, and Buescher was the slowest of all 16 title contenders in 35th.
Just last weekend, championship contender Ryan Blaney also failed twice, but went on to finish fourth in the Southern 500 at Darlington.
These inspection penalties are fairly common, and it doesn't really impact the weekend too much, but just one more failure would have put them seriously behind. Both cars ultimately passed on the third attempt, thus avoiding a costly pass-through penalty during the race on Sunday. There were no other reported issues in technical inspection.
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Photos from Gateway - Saturday
Gateway - Saturday, in photos
Gateway - Saturday, in photos
Gateway - Saturday, in photos
Gateway - Saturday, in photos
Gateway - Saturday, in photos
Gateway - Saturday, in photos
Gateway - Saturday, in photos
Gateway - Saturday, in photos
Gateway - Saturday, in photos
Gateway - Saturday, in photos
Gateway - Saturday, in photos
Gateway - Saturday, in photos
Gateway - Saturday, in photos
Gateway - Saturday, in photos
Gateway - Saturday, in photos
Gateway - Saturday, in photos
Gateway - Saturday, in photos
Gateway - Saturday, in photos
Gateway - Saturday, in photos
Gateway - Saturday, in photos
Gateway - Saturday, in photos
Gateway - Saturday, in photos
Gateway - Saturday, in photos
Gateway - Saturday, in photos
Gateway - Saturday, in photos
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