No. 48 all clear after Martinsville

The No. 48 was all clear after Martinsville.

The No. 48 racecar driven by Jimmie Johnson to a second-place finish at Martinsville passed inspection without any issues at NASCAR's Research and Development Center, NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp confirmed in an email Wednesday.

The race-winning car and a random car are selected after every race to undergo further inspection at the R&D Center. In addition to the No. 14 racecar of race winner Tony Stewart, which also cleared inspection, the No. 48 car was chosen as the random car in accordance with NASCAR's announcement last Friday that the No. 48 could expect to be called in for post-race inspection for the remainder of the year.

The inspections are punishment for suspect comments made by crew chief Chad Knaus to Johnson that were caught on NASCAR.com's Race Buddy application before the Oct. 23 Sprint Cup race at Talladega. Before the race, Knaus was overheard on Johnson's in-car camera telling the driver to wreck the back of his racecar if he won. Johnson finished 26th and the car was not wrecked.

The last three races of the season will be held at Texas, Phoenix and Homestead.

Johnson currently sits sixth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup points standings, 43 points behind leader Carl Edwards.