The Chevrolet powerplant in the No. 76 of Rinus VeeKay expired with smoke, oil, and flames early during Practice 2 on the streets of Detroit. Speaking with one of the Juncos Hollinger Racing team guys at the track, it should take roughly two hours to swap the powerplant into their car. He said it was likely just a fluke issue with no real heads up.

The powerplant in question was brand new when Rinus took the green at last week’s Indianapolis 500, so it was nowhere near its expected 2,500-mile lifetime. With Chevrolet powerplants having a couple of issues last weekend at Indy, one has to wonder if the rest of the Chevrolet teams are concerned.

Another JHR team member said they were confident the car would be ready for qualifying. He also mentioned that since they are not supposed to be handling the powerplants during the race weekend, he fully expects a penalty later on.

Image: Tom Luttermoser/ Seriously Fast Motorsports