DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Two years ago Martin Truex Jr., and his Furniture Row Racing found themselves in the spotlight by qualifying second for the Daytona 500 in their first race together.
Fast forward almost 24 months later and the team is back in the headlines for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ Great American Race after Truex’s No. 78 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry failed to post a lap in Sunday’s qualifying session at the 2.5-mile speedway stadium when NASCAR noticed a problem with the right roof flap on top of the car.
NASCAR issued a statement which read: “Prior to making a qualifying attempt for the Daytona 500, NASCAR officials on pit road determined a roof flap on the No. 78 was not in compliance with prescribed specifications. The team was unable to correct the violation within the allotted five minutes per the NASCAR Rule Book, and forfeited their opportunity to make a qualifying attempt.”
“They didn’t like the way it was landing when it went down,” crew chief Cole Pearn said of the roof flap. “I don’t know, it was that way the whole way down pit road. I’m not sure what the problem was, it could have been easily fixed but either way they decided to put it on the five minute clock when we were down there at the end and I don’t know why we had to run it back here because there was no way we were going to back here and get back out in time.
“But, whatever, we will roll on and see what they decide to do. Too bad. I thought we had a really good car and good speed in it so it would’ve been nice to see what we could’ve run at least but either way we’ll move on and hopefully have a good rest of Speedweeks.”
A roof flap is an aerodynamic feature which functions as an emergency spoiler to prevent the race cars from lifting off the ground.
Not posting a time, Truex was credited with last (44th) in the session and will have to race in the upcoming Can-Am duel on Thursday night to determine his starting position for the Daytona 500. The Denver, Colorado-based team will also be required to start at the rear of their qualifying race on Thursday.
With Furniture Row Racing being one of the 36 Sprint Cup teams earning a charter earlier this week from the sanctioning body, the team is guaranteed to make the race no matter what happens.
A NASCAR spokesperson said they will discuss the issue further, but would not elaborate whether the team would receive any further penalties before the start of the season on Feb. 21.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
