[autotag]Chase Elliott[/autotag] was getting better throughout the race at Circuit of the Americas and could have earned his first top-5 finish of the 2024 NASCAR season. Unfortunately for Elliott, he got loose going through the esses and accidentally went outside the track limits. NASCAR gave the Hendrick Motorsports driver a penalty, and he eventually finished in 16th place.
On Tuesday, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Elton Sawyer appeared on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio to discuss Elliott’s penalty. Fans of the No. 9 team and Hendrick Motorsports will not like what he said about the incident.
“[The No. 9 team] kept coming up that [Chase Elliott] wheel hopped, he had got loose, whatever that may be, that’s fair,” Sawyer said. “I do believe that, but on the flip side, you still have to make the call or every driver, every team is going to be calling up [to the tower] and say, ‘Look, he got loose, he wheel hopped.’”
Elliott made a mistake in the esses. It wasn’t a deliberate attempt to gain more speed or pass another competitor. However, it was still a penalty in NASCAR’s eyes. Whether it’s a penalty or not doesn’t change the outcome. Elliott still came home with a finish that wasn’t representative of his speed. Now, the driver of the No. 9 car will have to look forward to Richmond Raceway to gain momentum.
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