What happened to Kyle Busch and RCR in NASCAR’s inspection line at Atlanta Motor Speedway?

Kyle Busch and Richard Childress Racing's No. 8 crew missed the inspection line on their second attempt. A crew member was expelled from the team, and they will also forfeit pit selection.

While Kyle Busch provided Richard Childress Racing with its first Cup victory of the season last month, his biggest contribution may be the way he pushes the organization and the teams that work with RCR. Busch's level of readiness, observations, and questions in meetings have already had an influence on his tenure.

NASCAR is in Atlanta, Georgia this weekend. With no practice sessions scheduled, teams will race for the first time in qualifying. Teams will go through the inspection line on Friday night. Several teams did not succeed on their first try and all except one were able to pass tech on their second try.

The NASCAR Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series drivers are expected to qualify for Saturday's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Friday afternoon, but rain might derail those preparations.

Rain is expected at the Hampton, Georgia, track on Friday. The weather system is predicted to pass through on Friday night and the predictions for Saturday and Sunday is substantially better.

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Kyle Busch makes an impression on RCR

Although Kyle Busch provided Richard Childress Racing with its first Cup victory of the year last month, his greatest reward may be the way he pushes RCR and the teams that support it.

When the contract with Kyle Busch was revealed in September last year, Austin Dillon highlighted Busch's expertise as one of the ways his new teammates will contribute. Dillon said:

“You’re probably never going to have to doubt any kind of feedback from him, If he says the cars are struggling here, we're going to work on that."

Andy Petree, RCR vice president of competition, told NBC Sports:

“He’s bringing things to the table for us that we haven’t had."

According to Kyle Busch, the team spoke about how to combine these notions in their meetings and how to prepare for each event in January.

Busch stated:

“I brought up a lot of different topics, I still don’t have all of what I want accomplished yet. Most of that is data-driven and stuff you get after practice or after qualifying, so still pushing on much of that."

Kyle Busch offered more information with the car than Earnhardt did, according to Andy Petree, who oversaw Earnhardt's final two Cup victories. Petree said:

“Earnhardt was an incredible driver, but he didn’t have this knack that Kyle has for breaking down so many details in the car, Earnhardt would go out and get you every ounce of speed that was in it, but he wasn’t really great as far as giving that detailed feedback."

“You had to pull anything out of him… Kyle will just pick that thing apart, the things that you don’t even think about.”