NASCAR announce five drivers DEMOTED at Indianapolis including Denny Hamlin

Five NASCAR Cup Series drivers have been dealt a blow at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, including Joe Gibbs Racing star Denny Hamlin.

The iconic 2.5-mile oval will host the Brickyard 400 on Sunday afternoon, with 39 drivers looking to etch their names into the history books with a victory.

READ MORE: NASCAR Results Today: Blaney and Larson battle at Indianapolis as Hamlin makes incredible comeback

However, five drivers will have to get a lot of overtaking done if they want it to be them, with NASCAR confirming that Hamlin, John Hunter Nemechek, Michael McDowell, Zane Smith and Jesse Love will all be sent to the rear ahead of the green flag.

After setting the fastest lap time in practice, Hamlin looked set for pole on Saturday, and was over two-tenths up on his teammate Chase Briscoe's lap time at IMS when he crashed heavily during the very last lap of the session.

The heavy impacts sustained by the No. 11 car caused a lot of damage, with Hamlin now set to race in a backup car on Sunday, which is a mandatory tail-end penalty.

READ MORE: NASCAR announce driver DISQUALIFICATION at Indianapolis

NASCAR drivers hit with penalties at Indianapolis

Nemechek is also paying the price for having made mistakes in qualifying on Saturday.

Like Hamlin, he too had looked quick in practice at the Brickyard, but blew it when it came to setting his lap time, brushing the wall twice on his lap and causing damage to his No. 42 that needed to be repaired ahead of Sunday's race.

NASCAR classifies this as 'unapproved adjustments' and so Nemechek has also been hit with a tail-end penalty.

In fact, other than Hamlin, all of the drivers have been sent to the rear ahead of Sunday's race for 'unapproved adjustments'.

Briscoe will lead the field from pole in the No. 19 at the green flag, with Bubba Wallace joining him on the front row in the No. 23.

Erik Jones, Tyler Reddick and Ty Gibbs round out the starting five. You can find the full starting lineup here.

READ MORE: NASCAR team hit with slam dunk penalty at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

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