Win a Chase race and advance to the next round. Right? Wrong.
NASCAR announced changes to its rules for the Chase for the Sprint Cup on Wednesday, taking dead aim at inspection violations. Those include post-race laser examinations and those two dreaded words — lug nuts.
The announcement came shortly after Chase participant Martin Truex Jr. and his team were penalized for a laser test failure at Richmond. It also signaled something much tougher.
Failure to pass post-race laser examination or being found not to have the proper number of lug nuts will cost race winners plenty.