NASCAR Disqualifies Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch After Failed Inspection: 'We Were Shocked' Says Team Owner

Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire via Getty; Chris Graythen/Getty Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch disqualified from NASCAR race

NASCAR drivers Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch were disqualified during Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series after their vehicles failed inspections.

According to ESPN, both drivers' results were disqualified due to an issue with "the front fascia" of their Toyotas. "There was some issues discovered that affect aero of the vehicle," NASCAR Cup Series Director Brad Moran said on Sunday.

Hamlin, 41, and Busch, 37, had already completed the race, coming in at first and second place, when the drivers were informed of their violation. Hamlin's disqualification, which is the first of a Cup winner since 1960, made driver Chase Elliott the winner in Sunday's race.

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"We saw enough that the DQ was warranted and we are bringing the vehicles back for further evaluation, so we will look much closer at both vehicles," Moran explained. "There really was no reason why there was some material that was somewhere that it shouldn't have been, and that does basically come down to a DQ."

While the racing league doesn't expect to find any additional infractions, further inspections will be done on the vehicles. "We are hopefully not going to find anything else," said Moran.

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Team owner Joe Gibbs said, "We were shocked to learn of the infraction that caused our two cars to fail NASCAR's post-race technical inspection."

Additionally, Gibbs, 81, plans to "review every part of the process that led to this situation." An option for Joe Gibbs Racing to appeal the penalty expired on Monday at noon.

On Monday, Hamlin posted a cryptic caption alongside a photo from Sunday's race. "Can't take the memories away," the driver wrote alongside a photo of his daughter, Taylor. He shared the photo of Taylor and the flag with his Twitter followers as well, writing, "Yeah, good luck getting that back."

26-year-old Elliott spoke with ESPN on Monday, expressing disappointment in the way he earned the victory. "I was probably just kind of more surprised by it than anything," Elliott said. "I don't think any driver wants to win that way. I certainly don't."

RELATED: NASCAR's Denny Hamlin to Undergo Sensitivity Training After Tweeting Anti-Asian Meme

Hamlin's disqualification comes just months after the driver was required to undergo sensitivity training. The 41-year-old race car driver publicly sent Asian-American driver Kyle Larson a racially-motivated meme from Family Guy.

"I took down a post I made earlier today after reading some of the comments," Hamlin said in a follow-up tweet. "It was a poor choice of memes and I saw how it was offensive. It came across totally wrong. I apologize."