NASCAR Cup Richmond

Two car chiefs ejected in Richmond after NASCAR Cup inspection issues

Both the No. 20 of Christopher Bell and the No. 51 of Cody Ware passed on the third attempt

Nick DeGroot

Edited: Aug 15, 2026, 3:14 AM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing

Photo by: David Jensen / Getty Images

Once again, a couple of NASCAR Cup Series teams had a little bit of trouble getting through pre-race inspection. At Richmond Raceway, it was the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Christopher Bell and the No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet of Cody Ware.

Both cars failed twice, but passed on their third attempt. One more failure would have resulted in an end-of-line starting position and a drive through penalty after the green flag, but both teams avoided that.

Instead, JGR car chief Clay Chris Sherwood and RWR car chief Dave Jone have been ejected from the facility for the remainder of the race weekend.

Both also lose their pit stall selection, meaning they will get whatever two stalls remain after the rest of the field chooses. That won't impact Ware much, who didn't take part in qualifying after a practice spin. However, that could be costly for Bell, who qualified eighth on the grid.

Ryan Blaney earned pole position for the NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond, and this will be the fourth time this year the No. 12 Team Penske Ford leads the field to the green flag -- a career-high for Blaney.

It's been an unfortunate weekend for Bell, even beyond this inspection snafu. He was set to take part in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race on Friday night with Halmar-Friesen Racing, but but the race was postponed to Saturday due to inclement weather. Bell had to bow out of the event as a result of that, and will be replaced by Leland Honeyman Jr. in the No. 62 Toyota.

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article NASCAR Cup Richmond starting lineup: Ryan Blaney takes pole position

Next article Kyle Busch Remembered: Rowdy's most unforgettable moments at Richmond

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Retaining Liam Lawson isn't enough – Red Bull must stop treating him like a failure

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1 35 min

Retaining Liam Lawson isn't enough – Red Bull must stop treating him like a failure

Yamaha may not be competitive immediately in MotoGP's 850cc era, says Pramac

MotoGP

MGP MotoGP

Qatar GP

4 h

Yamaha may not be competitive immediately in MotoGP's 850cc era, says Pramac

With rallying back in the spotlight, it could probably teach F1 a thing or two

Formula 1

With rallying back in the spotlight, it could probably teach F1 a thing or two

You Ask The Questions: Jack Miller

MotoGP

Qatar GP

You Ask The Questions: Jack Miller

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts