Following post-race inspection at Nashville, NASCAR has disqualified Daniel Dye and the No. 10 Kaulig Racing car. Dye originally finished P9, which would have been his sixth top-10 of the season. Instead, he is now credited with a 38th-place finish after failing rear ride-height requirements.

Daniel Dye is going to take a good hit in the points after tonight. He picked up 35 points with his performance tonight, but it was all for nothing. Kaulig Racing is wondering what they have to do to not get wrecked or penalized in Nashville this weekend.

Let’s run down the Xfinity Series results for Kaulig today: Christian Eckes P36 after restart wreck totaled his Chevy. Josh Williams, involved in the same restart incident, fought back for a paltry P18 finish. Dye DQ’d and relegated to last place.

Oh, on top of that, AJ Allmendinger suffered a massive penalty today in Cup Series practice for an unapproved adjustment on pit road. Ty Dillon is the only driver who hasn’t had on or off-track troubles today.

The winner of tonight’s race, Justin Allgaier, passed inspection. He records his third win of the season. As for Daniel Dye, he needs to take these next two weeks before Mexico City to regroup and refresh.

NASCAR has been really DQ-heavy this season. It started with the disqualification of Parker Kligerman from the Daytona Truck Series race, which he had originally won. Since then, we have seen a number of infractions handed down from NASCAR to various teams.

In the Xfinity Series, we had two DQs at Rockingham. Jesse Love, the winner of that race, was disqualified, as well as Justin Bonsignore. Sammy Smith had his top-five finish at Charlotte taken away after post-race inspection just a week ago.

Daniel Dye gets hit with DQ after AJ Allmendinger Cup penalty

Like I said, Kaulig Racing is really taking it on the chin this weekend. Chris Rice and Matt Kaulig have to be wondering what in the world is going on. They can’t catch a break no matter how hard they try.

It really felt like Daniel Dye was going to be the bright spot of the night. Two cars were involved in an ultimately avoidable restart pileup. Then you have your Cup Series star get hit with a penalty that will make him lose pit selection, lose his car chief, his car chief has had his hard card pulled for the year, and Allmendinger will have to start at the rear on Sunday before he performs a stop-and-go penalty. Yikes.

I’m not sure what this organization did to anger the racing gods. But things need to turn around soon. So, Ty Dillon, you’re the only hope, it looks like, for salvaging the weekend at Nashville.

Oscar Piastri strengthens his F1 world championship lead, beating McLaren teammate Lando Norris, while Max Verstappen drops to 10th spot after post-race penalty.

Formula One championship leader Oscar Piastri has won the Spanish Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two to go 10 points clear of teammate Lando Norris in the world championship title battle.

The Australian’s win on Sunday by 2.4 seconds over Norris was his fifth in nine races this season and McLaren’s seventh.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completed the podium places on Sunday after passing Max Verstappen’s Red Bull six laps from the end following a safety car period that triggered the main talking point of the afternoon with the champion demoted from fifth to 10th place.

“It’s a nice way to bounce back from Monaco. A superb weekend,” said Piastri, who finished third last weekend in a race won from pole by Norris.

Verstappen, who made four stops in total and ended up on the slower hard tyres against rivals on softs, collided with Leclerc and twice with Mercedes’s George Russell after the safety car restart.

The Dutch driver was given a 10-second penalty – added to his overall time post-race – for the second Russell collision, which was clearly his fault.

He and Leclerc also faced a post-race investigation for their clash, which could lead to further sanctions.

“I tried to push him to the left. There was a bit of contact but fortunately no consequences,” Leclerc said. Verstappen claimed the Monegasque had rammed into him and should have given back the place.

Russell finished fourth after eventually being let through by Verstappen, who reluctantly did as his team told him.

Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg finished a surprising and morale-boosting fifth for the future Audi team after passing Ferrari’s seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton on the penultimate lap.

Hamilton was a disappointing sixth, Isack Hadjar seventh for Racing Bulls and Pierre Gasly eighth for Renault-owned Alpine.

Home hero Fernando Alonso scored his first points of the season with Aston Martin, who had only one car on the grid due to Lance Stroll’s withdrawal through injury after Saturday’s qualifying.

Piastri keeps his cool out front

Piastri led away cleanly at the start with Verstappen seizing second from Norris while Hamilton and Leclerc moved up to fourth and fifth at the expense of Russell.

Hamilton let Leclerc through on lap 10 of 66 after the two Ferraris had run nose to tail.

Norris took back second place from Verstappen on lap 13 with the Dutch driver making no attempt to defend against the quicker McLaren and pitting on the next lap for new tyres.

Verstappen took the lead again on lap 23 after Piastri pitted. Norris made his first stop on lap 21 and came out behind the Red Bull, but that lasted only until Verstappen pitted for a second time on lap 30.

Verstappen came in for a third stop on lap 47, and Norris pitted a lap later to defend second place.

A safety car was deployed on lap 55 after rookie driver Kimi Antonelli beached his Mercedes in the gravel, bunching up the field and triggering a rash of pit stops.

The McLarens came in together for new tyres, double-stacking, and comfortably resumed ahead of Verstappen, who questioned the switch to a set of hards but was told that was the only option available.

The next round of the 2025 season will be the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal on June 15.

Daniel Dye earned his sixth top ten finish of the 2025 season on Saturday night, placing ninth at Nashville and scoring stage points in both Stage 1 and Stage 2.

However, Dye’s No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet failed rear height checks, resulting in a post-race disqualification. Nearly all of the 35 points he scored are now gone as he will now finish 38th, scoring just one point. Dye was set to leave Nashville 14th in the regular season standings, but the inspection failure has dropped him down to 15th.

Carson Kvapil has been promoted to ninth as a result of Dye’s misfortune and Sammy Smith is now 10th. This means JR Motorsports managed to place all five of their cars inside the top ten while also winning the race with Justin Allgaier.

Additionally, Connor Zilisch, who finished second, had two unsecured lug nuts. This will result in a $10,000 and a one-race suspension for crew chief Mardy Lindley.

This has been a difficult day for Kaulig Racing as they were caught making unapproved adjustments to A.J. Allmendinger’s Cup car ahead of practice, and have been penalized as a result.

The 2025 season has also seen an unusually high number of post-race inspection issues across all three national divisions. The winner of the Truck Series season-opener at Daytona [Parker Kligerman] and the winner of the Xfinity Series race at Rockingham [Jesse Love] were both disqualified, while Dye becomes the the ninth DQ across all three divisions this year. Four of those have taken place in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin and longtime partner Jordan Fish are expecting their third child on Sunday, and if their first baby boy arrives during the NASCAR Cup Series race window, Hamlin has confirmed that the birth of the child is the priority and that he is willing to miss the Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.

Ryan Truex has been confirmed as his replacement, should Hamlin not be able to compete in this 300-lap race around the four-turn, 1.333-mile (2.145-kilometer) Lebanon, Tennessee oval.

But if Truex ends up getting behind the wheel of the No. 11 Toyota, that brings another question to the forefront: would Hamlin be eligible for a playoff waiver?

Denny Hamlin playoff status in question if he misses Nashville

Over the offseason, NASCAR made their playoff waiver rules much stricter. This change was made after Kyle Larson missed last year’s rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway to compete in IndyCar’s rain-delayed Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Medical waivers can still be granted, but any waiver granted for anything other than a medical reason will only be granted if the driver’s playoff points are wiped off the board completely.

This includes playoff points already earned, and playoff points earned throughout the remainder of the regular season, ensuring that any driver granted a non-medical playoff waiver starts the playoffs with 2,000 points (zero playoff points), regardless of their regular season success.

Hamlin has already technically locked himself into this year’s playoffs with two wins at Martinsville Speedway and Darlington Raceway, and he has also won two stages, giving him 12 total stage points, third most in the series. He sits in sixth place in the point standings, and a sixth place regular season finish would give him five more playoff points.

Are he and his playoff points safe?

He would have no issue getting a waiver if he were to miss the Cracker Barrel 400 for the birth of his child, according to Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass.

Chase Briscoe was the 36th of 39 drivers on track at Nashville, but he put down the fastest lap time in qualifying with a 29.125s run. He beat Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin by 0.049s, who will join him on the front row tomorrow.

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“Honestly, I thought I ran a decent lap,” said Briscoe. “Just a smooth lap and sometimes that’s what it takes. Obviously, a good Saturday for our Bass Pro Shops Toyota and obviously two weeks in a row we’ve been able to do that now, which is nice. Just need to put a Sunday together now.

“Track position is going to be really really big here tomorrow and that’s the name of the game most every place we go, certainly at this place. So hopefully we can maintain track position and keep it up front all day long.’’

Briscoe now has three pole positions in his first year with JGR, also earning pole in the Daytona 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 as well.

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William Byron was the top Chevrolet driver in third, Tyler Reddick (who led practice) was fourth, and newly crowned Coke 600 winner Ross Chastain timed in fifth.

Brad Keselowski, Christopher Bell, Michael McDowell, Joey Logano, and Chris Buescher filled out the remainder of the top ten.

A.J. Allmendinger qualified 17th following some inspection drama earlier where NASCAR pulled the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet aside after catching the team making unapproved adjustments.

Shane van Gisbergen ended up 23rd, which is his best qualifying effort on an oval this year, excluding the All-Star Open (a non-championship race), where he started from pole position.

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Kyle Larson was hoping to rebound from a difficult Memorial Day Weekend, which saw him crash out of both the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600. Unfortunately, Nashville offered no relief. He will start 28th in his worst qualifying effort of the entire 2025 season.

Photos from Nashville – Practice & Qualifying

Cody Ware, Rick Ware Racing Ford

Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford

James Gilbert / Getty Images

Chris Buescher, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford

James Gilbert / Getty Images

Noah Gragson, Front Row Motorsports Ford

James Gilbert / Getty Images

Cole Custer, Haas Factory Team Ford

Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing Toyota

Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Zane Smith, Front Row Motorsports Ford

James Gilbert / Getty Images

Justin Haley, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

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Austin Cindric, Team Penske Ford

Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

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Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Hyak Motorsports Chevrolet

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Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing Toyota

James Gilbert / Getty Images

Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

James Gilbert / Getty Images

Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing Toyota

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Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford

James Gilbert / Getty Images

Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

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Chris Buescher, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford

Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford

Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Daniel Suarez, Trackhouse Chevrolet

James Gilbert / Getty Images

Corey LaJoie

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John Hunter Nemechek, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Toyota

Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

James Gilbert / Getty Images

Michael McDowell, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

James Gilbert / Getty Images

Chris Buescher, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford

Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Joey Logano, Team Penske Ford

James Gilbert / Getty Images

Daniel Suarez, Trackhouse Chevrolet

Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

James Gilbert / Getty Images

Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet

Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

James Gilbert / Getty Images

Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

James Gilbert / Getty Images

Shane van Gisbergen, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

James Gilbert / Getty Images

Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet

Sean Gardner / Getty Images

Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

James Gilbert / Getty Images

AJ Allmendinger, Kaulig Racing Chevrolet

James Gilbert / Getty Images

Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports Ford

James Gilbert / Getty Images

Erik Jones, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Toyota

James Gilbert / Getty Images

Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

James Gilbert / Getty Images

Chase Briscoe, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

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