Officials eject car chiefs for No. 20, No. 37 teams after Pocono woes in inspection

Erik Jones

The No. 37 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet of Chris Buescher and the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Erik Jones failed pre-qualifying inspection twice Saturday at Pocono Raceway, and the car chief for each team were ejected.

As a result of the inspection failures, both teams will be docked 15 minutes of practice time at next weekend’s event at Michigan International Speedway, and a crew member for each team was ejected for the remainder of the race weekend. The car chiefs for each team: Jason Overstreet (No. 20) and Doug Powers (No. 37) were the crew members ejected, according to a NASCAR spokesperson.

Meanwhile, Erik Jones said Friday at Pocono Raceway that he was “pretty close" to a contract extension with Joe Gibbs Racing.

Jones is in his third full-time Cup season for JGR. Jones made the playoffs last year with his win at Daytona in July. He enters Sunday’s race at Pocono Raceway 17th in the points, the first spot outside a playoff spot. He trails Kyle Larson by two points for that final transfer spot to the playoffs.

Asked about his contract talks, Jones said: “I think we’re pretty close I would say. Definitely farther along than we were a month or two ago. In good shape here right now."