Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.

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- In an expedited hearing Wednesday, the National Motorsports Appeals Panel upheld the disqualification handed down to JR Motorsports' Sam Mayer after Saturday's United Rentals 250 at Talladega Superspeedway. The DQ came after Mayer's Chevrolet measured too low in the rear end during post-race inspection.

Team co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. took to social media afterwards and explained that the violation came about due to aggressive bump drafting. The bumping was apparently hard enough to bent roll bars, resulting in the violation.

As a result, Mayer remains 11th in NASCAR Xfinity Series, 13 points behind eighth-place AJ Allmendinger going into Charlotte this weekend. Both Allmendinger and Shane van Gisbergen, who is 10th in points, are threats to win, so Mayer may need to overtake Riley Herbst in sixth, who is 26 points ahead of him, to advance.

- In Michelin Pilot Challenge Practice No. 1 Thursday, Kellymoss with Riley's Riley Dickinson was fastest overall with a lap at 105.908 mph in his Porsche. Dickinson was .123 seconds faster than Matt Plumb in the championship-leading Aston Martin. McCumbee-McAleer Racing's Sam Paley was third fastest on debut in his Ford Mustang GT4, followed by KohR Motorsports' Luca Mars. Van der Steur Racing's Valentin Hasse-Clot was fifth.

In TCR, Victor Gonzalez Racing Team's Morgan Burkhard was fastest in his Hyundai with a lap at 103.441 mph, 18th overall. Burkhard was .225 seconds faster than Montreal Motorsport Group's Daijiro Yoshihara. KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering's Tim Lewis Jr. was third in the Alfa Romeo, then Bryan Herta Autosport's Bryson Morris. JDC-Miller MotorSports' Mikey Taylor was fifth.

Practice No. 2 this morning saw Jenson Altzman put the McCumbee-McAleer Mustang on top with a lap at 106.545 mph, a lap within a tenth of a second of the current track record. Altzman's lap was .232 seconds faster than Trent Hindman in the Rennsport One Porsche. Mars was third, then Baby Bull Racing's Michael Cooper and TeamTGM's Paul Holton.

In TCR, Bryan Herta Autosport's Robert Wickens was fastest with a lap at 103.659 mph in 20th overall. His lap was .103 seconds faster than Burkhard. Mason Filippi was third, then Lewis and Denis Dupont. 

"I think Homestead, running right up against the wall. I say this humbly, but I feel like I’m one of the most proficient guys in the Truck Series in doing that and hitting it right. And so that’s something you do at Homestead, and I’m really excited to go there." - Rajah Caruth on where he thinks that he'll have the best chance to lock himself into the Championship 4 in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.