DAYTONA, BEACH, Fla. — A total of 31 cars in the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series were found to have illegal spacers on the hinges of the roof flaps, and possible fines and other penalties are expected to be issued Tuesday, NASCAR officials said Thursday night at Daytona International Speedway.
Sixteen drivers were delayed from joining Thursday's first Sprint Cup practice session when NASCAR officials discovered the incompliant spacers. Nationwide cars were then checked, and an additional 15 were found with the illegal spacers.
The Sprint Cup violations involved nine Fords, six Toyotas and one Chevrolet. Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Trevor Bayne had the illegal spacers on their cars in both series.
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The teams apparently substituted the approved spacers made by the cars' manufacturers for spacers made in-house or purchased elsewhere, NASCAR officials said.
"The manufacturers supply you with a kit for the spacers on the roof flaps, and these 16 cars were not in compliance," said NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said of the Sprint Cup cars.
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Sprint Cup drivers affected were Bayne, Busch, Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Aric Almirola, Casey Mears, Marcos Ambrose, Greg Biffle, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex Jr. and Michael Waltrip.
Roof flaps are deployed when a car spins, helping to prevent it from becoming airborne.
All 16 drivers eventually participated in Thursday's first 90-minute practice session after the new roof flaps were installed. AJ Allmendinger led the session with a fast lap of 200.218 mph.
The Nationwide drivers whose cars were found with the illegal spacers were Busch, Kenseth, Bayne, Brian Vickers, Dexter Stacey, Cole Whitt, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Landon Cassill, Blake Koch, Mike Bliss, Michael Annett, Travis Pastrana, Reed Sorenson, Robert Richardson Jr. and Jason White.
"As is often the case, the two sides communicated with each other to say, 'Hey, this is what we've got over here,' so then the other side checked it out on their cars," Tharp said.
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