NASCAR
LOUDON, N.H. — The Nos. 9 and No. 10 Chevrolet Camaros of Noah Gragson and Landon Cassill, respectively, were disqualified after post-race inspection after Saturday’s Crayon 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Cassill took the checkered flag third, followed closely by Gragson in fourth. The two drivers were scored 37th and 38th officially after the penalty. The top five was revised to race winner Justin Allgaier, Trevor Bayne, Brandon Brown, Jeremy Clements and Austin Hill.
The No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevy was disqualified for violating Rule Book section 14.17.3.2.1.2.a (Post-Qualifying and Post-Race Front Body Inspection Heights) with the car too low in the front. The No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevy violated Rule Book section 14.17.3.2.2.2.a (Post-Qualifying and Post-Race Rear Body Inspection Heights) with the car too low in the rear.
Gragson is locked into the Xfinity Series playoffs, currently sitting fourth in the playoff standings. The penalty is a costly one for Cassill — Saturday’s finish would have been his second-best of the season and best since landing a top five at Talladega earlier this spring. He would have been inside the top 10, but now sits on the cutline in 12th. He stands 61 points ahead of Brown, in 13th.
Cassill led 17 laps late in the race as his team cranked on his No. 10 all afternoon and it came alive late in the final stage. It’s now all for naught.
“I really thought that I would keep the lead, but I just needed a little more right-rear tire,” he said before inspection negated his result. “I kind of struggled with that all day, we tightened the car up all day, and it was better. I mean, that’s when it really came to life. But I just needed a little bit more to hang on to be able to keep the lead and win the race.”
