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Ahead of the second NASCAR Cup Series race of the season, Stewart-Haas Racing drivers Noah Gragson and Ryan Preece's Ford have been booked for further investigation.
The Ambetter Health 400 is scheduled to flag off on Sunday, February 25, from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM ET at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. However, on the day preceding Saturday's qualifying run, the roof rail deflectors from Noah Gragson's #10 Ford and Preece's #41 Ford have been confiscated for scrutiny, as per NASCAR's official website.
The parts will be investigated according to rule 14.5.6.1 of NASCAR's rule book. Per this rule, the part in question should be painted, have to be installed in such a manner that it should be perpendicular to the slots on the greenhouse and roof flaps, and should not hinder the functioning of roof flaps. Additionally, the construction specification will be a 0.05-inch thick aluminum rail.
Until now, NASCAR hasn't unveiled the exact reason behind such confiscation and has declared announcing the penalties next week, if applicable.
Noah Gragson gives a shoutout to his team for a "solid start" to the season
Stewart-Haas Racing had a winless 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season but has got off to a strong start in the current campaign. Noah Gragson's P9 finish and Chase Briscoe's P10 finish at the Daytona 500 locked in top-10s for SHR at the season-opener run.
Computing a total of 29 points on the points table, Stewart-Haas Racing is running at the P14 spot out of 40 teams on the NASCAR grid. With his P9 finish at the Daytona International Speedway, Gragson has secured the P15 spot with 28 driver points in the bag.
Days before Saturday's qualifying stint, Gragson gave a major shoutout to his team, unraveling the team's powerful entry in the 2024 season. The 25-year-old also showcased the team's preparedness to dominate the 260-lap race spanning across a total of 400.4 miles of asphalt.
Gragson shared the message on his X (formerly Twitter) account:
"Solid start to the season. The entire team did a great job and we're ready to go back to work this weekend in Atlanta."
Gragson and Preece's car will have the replacement parts for their Atlanta Motor Speedway run until NASCAR comes up with a conclusive decision on the confiscated parts.
