Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR's executive vice president and chief racing development officer, has cast doubt on Kyle Larson's claim that his rear window was sagging after Saturday's Cup race due to race damage.
Extra attention was paid to Larson's No. 42 Chevrolet following the race at Kansas Speedway. An official kept watch over it on pit road, and it was taken to the R&D Center for additional scrutiny.
The rear window appeared to be sagging, which Larson attributed to damage from an incident with Ryan Blaney with 20 laps to go.
"Definitely (from the damage) because I didn't have it until after Blaney and I got together, so I'm glad to see that we have a lot of damage back there," Larson told FS1 after finishing fourth. "Because obviously if there was no damage, we'd probably get a penalty, and who knows we might still, but I got a ton of damage back there.
NASCAR has issued four penalties for rear window violations this season: Kevin Harvick's team after a Las Vegas win; Chase Elliott's team after an 11th at Texas; and Daniel Suarez and Clint Bowyer each lost their car chiefs for two races because of rear window support brace failures at Dover.
O'Donnell was asked about the possibility of news later in the week about Larson's car.