Ryan Blaney wins Kansas pole as 12 cars don't pass tech in time

Kansas City, Kansas — Ryan Blaney will start Saturday night’s Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway first. But the main story of qualifying was once again how many cars didn’t make a lap because of inspection issues.

Twelve of the 40 cars in Saturday’s race didn’t make a qualifying attempt. The 12 included Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer and Kasey Kahne. Chase Elliott, who qualified, 10th, was the only Hendrick Motorsports driver who was able to make a lap.

NASCAR said many of the teams that failed were having issues failing the laser inspection station regarding the rear steer of their cars. Junior tweeted this not long after the first round of qualifying ended.

Questions about the consistency of NASCAR’s laser inspection stations are nothing new. And while NASCAR has said that its on the teams to pass inspection on their first attempt, teams get frustrated with NASCAR. The cycle hasn’t stopped yet.

NASCAR currently penalizes pit selection and practice time for teams that repeatedly fail inspection on the previous weekend. Could stiffer penalties help spur more cars to pass inspection in a timely manner?

“We need to assess how we’re doing all this and make sure that the right message is sent,” NASCAR vice president Scott Miller said.

Since cars start the race with the tires they qualify on, the teams that missed qualifying will start the race on fresh tires.

Here’s the full lineup for Saturday’s race. The cars that didn’t make an attempt are ordered by owner’s points.

1. Ryan Blaney
2. Joey Logano
3. Martin Truex Jr.
4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
5. Kyle Busch
6. Kurt Busch
7. Denny Hamlin
8. Kevin Harvick
9. Kyle Larson
10. Chase Elliott
11. Austin Dillon
12. Jamie McMurray
13. Aric Almirola
14. Matt Kenseth
15. Daniel Suarez
16. Trevor Bayne
17. Brad Keselowski
18. Paul Menard
19. Ryan Newman
20. Chris Buescher
21. AJ Allmendinger
22. Ty Dillon
23. Matt DiBenedetto
24. Danica Patrick
25. Gray Gaulding
26. Cole Whitt
27. Jeffrey Earnhardt
28. Derrike Cope
29. Jimmie Johnson
30. Clint Bowyer
31. Kasey Kahne
32. Erik Jones
33. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
34. David Ragan
35. Michael McDowell
36. Landon Cassill
37. Reed Sorenson
38. Corey LaJoie
39. Timmy Hill
40. Carl Long

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Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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