Byron, No. 24 Hendrick Team Penalized (Unapproved Splitter Adjustment)

What was supposed to be a stress-free weekend for regular-season champion William Byron and his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team became anything but following pre-race inspection for Saturday night's NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

Byron's No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet, which initially passed pre-race inspection, was flagged after NASCAR Officials spotted the team making an unapproved adjustment to the splitter of the car. According to a statement from NASCAR, the No. 24 team was required to reinstall the struts, and the car was rerun over the USS (Underbody Scanning Station), where the car failed due to the adjustment.

As a result of the infraction, Rudy Fugle, the crew chief for the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports team, has been ejected for the remainder of the race weekend. Byron's team will also lose pit selection for the race, the driver will have to start from the rear of the field (was slated to start from the eighth position), and Byron will be required to perform a stop-and-go penalty after receiving the green flag in Saturday night's race.

This will put Byron, who was looking to rack up additional Playoff Points, behind the eight-ball, and will create a challenging scenario for the driver and team to overcome.

Fortunately, the driver, who wrapped up the regular-season championship with a 12th-place finish last weekend at Richmond Raceway will not see any additional penalties mid-week, which could potentially threaten that regular-season championship.

In addition to the No. 24 car, the No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports team failed pre-race inspection twice. As a result, NASCAR ejected Lee Leslie, the No. 78 team's car chief, for the remainder of the weekend and BJ McLeod's team will lose their pit selection for Saturday's race.