Failures foil top-eight starts for A.Dillon, Johnson, Byron at Pocono

LONG POND, Pa. — Austin Dillon, Jimmie Johnson, and William Byron will have to forfeit their top-eight starting positions and start at the rear for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Gander RV 400 at Pocono Raceway after failing pre-race tech.

Michael McDowell (17th), Ryan Blaney (20th), Chris Buescher (28th), Corey LaJoie (30th), Ross Chastain (35th), and Reed Sorensen (36th) will also start at the rear for their pre-race failures.

The top four qualifiers — Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Aric Almirola, and Erik Jones — made it through unscatched.

Dillon, who time trialed fifth, will now start 34th. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Johnson (time trialed sixth) and Byron (time trialed eighth) will now start 32nd and 31st, respectively.

The nine first-round inspection failures are the second most of the season (Kansas; 11).

Green flag is slated for 3:18 p.m. eastern standard time on NBC.

Official starting lineup after nine cars failed pre-race tech (@austindillon3, @JimmieJohnson, @WilliamByron forfeit top-eight starting spots). #nascar pic.twitter.com/QNQvRipFVO

— Kyle McFadden (@kylermcfadden) July 28, 2019