NASCAR imposes severe penalties for AJ Allmendinger and Kaulig Racing ahead of Nashville Cup race

AJ Allmendinger, who drives the No. 16 car for the Kaulig Racing team, will have to start the NASCAR Cup Series at Nashville from the back of the grid due to severe penalties imposed on the team by NASCAR for making illegal adjustments to the car post-inspection. The officials found adjustments in Allmendinger's car's splitter after the car passed the pre-qualifying inspection, which is illegal as per the NASCAR rulebook.

The car was re-inspected by the officials, and the team managed to make the necessary adjustments to make the car pass the inspection again. AJ Allmendinger was allowed to take part in the qualifying session after a ten-minute penalty, but NASCAR has announced further penalties for the No. 16 team after the session. The driver finished 17th in qualifying, but he was later disqualified from the session.

"The No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet team was penalized Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway after an unapproved adjustment was found on the splitter after the team had already passed pre-qualifying inspection. Before driver AJ Allmendinger could participate in Cup Series practice at the 1.33-mile oval, competition officials directed the No. 16 to return to the Cup garage and re-run through the Underbody Scanning Station. The team made the necessary adjustments, and Allmendinger’s car passed inspection again, but was held for 10 minutes during practice as a penalty," an official NASCAR statement read.

The 43-year-old driver would not just have to start from the back of the grid, he also receives a stop-and-go penalty during the race while the track is under green flag conditions. The car chief and the team engineer have also been ejected for the remainder of the weekend, and the team loses their pit selection for the race on Sunday.

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AJ Allmendinger is in favor of more horsepower for NASCAR Cup Series cars

NASCAR Cup driver, AJ Allmendinger, has his say on NASCAR considering increasing the horsepower of Cup cars for short track races. The limit is currently 670 horsepower for the teams, irrespective of the course.

The sanctioning body is currently considering an increase to 750 horsepower, which may occur this season. The Kaulig racing driver offered his opinions on this topic recently.

"I feel like we talk about this all the time. I think it’s maybe at least the first time publicly that NASCAR has probably been open to it. How much will it help? I don’t know. Will it hurt? I don’t think it’ll hurt by any means. Goodyear’s been doing a great job of trying to soften the tires to get them to wear out a little bit more. You’ve got to at least go 750," Allmendinger said via Peter Stratta.

The driver said that the drivers would not mind running 800 or even 900 horsepower, but 750 might be good for the start, with 800 being the ideal number. He expressed that it might not be the complete solution, but it certainly won't hurt. Allmendinger is currently ranked 18th in the Cup Series this season and hoped for a good result, but would be disappointed with the penalties his team received for the race at Nashville.