HAMPTON, Georgia – Pending approval by NASCAR, Michael Annett should replace Brian Scott in Circle Sport’s No. 33 Chevrolet for Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway.
Annett failed to qualify in HScott Motorsports’ No. 46 Chevrolet after the team didn’t clear technical inspection in time to post a lap during the first round of knockout qualifying Friday night.
With the issues, Annett found himself one of the 13 teams sitting out qualifying completely.
Among the others? Former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Richard Buck pinpointed the delay in technical inspection to teams pushing the tolerance levels of their racecars under the new aerodynamic package.
“We’ve got a new rules package here, and obviously the history of Atlanta and the grip is so important here, I think we’ve seen that with the test yesterday, teams getting to the limits, and we were open yesterday for all day on the laser inspection station and templates and such, and we had quite a few cars that came through,” Buck explained.
“We did see the area of the laser inspection station where teams were pushing it, and that’s their job. They’re trying to get every bit that they can.
“We made every effort our goal was to make sure everybody has a fair opportunity to get through there, so our focus was to make sure that we ran were able to run every car across there at least once to give them an opportunity, and that’s what we did.”
With no owner points to fall back on for a provisional, the team found themselves as one of four cars failing to make the 43-car starting lineup.
However, just hours after finding out Annett would miss his first NASCAR race that he attempted to qualify for, Annett’s record will now stay intact.
After all, the driver change makes sense.
Scott, a full-time competitor in the NASCAR XFINITY Series for Richard Childress Racing isn’t declaring points in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Annett is.
Scott, the Boise, Idaho native also wasn’t scheduled to run the No. 33 Circle Sport Racing car until next weekend at Las Vegas (Nev.) Speedway, but the team called the two-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series winner earlier this week offering him the job.
Annett entered Atlanta on the heels of a career-best finish in last Sunday’s Daytona 500, where he guided the No. 46 Pilot / Flying J Chevrolet to a solid 13th place run in the “Great American Race.” Currently, Annett secures 12th in the points standings.
The driver swap furthermore allows Annett the opportunity to stay safely netted inside the top-30 in the championship standings, should the Des Moines, Iowa native find his way into Victory Lane and earn a spot in this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Sources close to the situation say more information regarding the planned change is expected to be divulged before Saturday’s Cup practice session at the 1.5-mile speedway.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
