NASCAR: Heat caused Next-Gen Cup cars to fail inspection

It was a curious sight Friday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway.

A cloudless day and several umbrellas in the Cup garage shading … cars.

Such is the wacky world of racing. With temperatures in the lower 80s, the sun’s glare causes the Lexan windshields to expand enough that it can impact if a car passes inspection. In the past, teams had covers or even put ice on the windshields to keep them cool before such ploys were outlawed by NASCAR.  — NBC Sports —

Most cars failed first time through. Some chatter that the heat is impacting the body of the car so teams are starting to use umbrellas to help add shade while they go through tech. If fail second time, drop to rear at start and also lose a crew member. pic.twitter.com/0mmD6SWwyh

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) April 22, 2022