After suffering a blown engine during today’s second practice for the Daytona 500, Ryan Newman must start from the rear of the field in his Budweiser Duel qualifying race on Thursday.
But per NASCAR Talk‘s Dustin Long at Daytona, Newman has also been ruled ineligible for a front row start in the Great American Race by NASCAR because of the resulting engine change on his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.
Tomorrow’s group qualifying session will determine the front row on the 500 grid. Thursday’s Duels will help set the remainder of the field.
“Something just happened in the bottom end of the motor going into Turn 3,” Newman said. “Everything was going as planned until then.
“We will change the motor, figure out what happened to this one and get ready for tonight with a different race car and qualifying tomorrow.”
Also finding trouble this afternoon was Martin Truex Jr., who suffered an oil leak due to a crack in the car’s oil pan. However, he and his No. 78 team will not change the engine on their Chevy.