Chase Elliott Suspended for Coca-Cola 600 Wreck

StoryByJonathanFjeld

Photos Courtesy of Getty Images

NASCAR suspended Chase Elliott for wrecking Denny Hamlin in the Coca-Cola 600.

The sanctioning body swiftly handed down the penalty, just a day after the wreck happened. Elliott will miss one race.

Exiting turn four on lap 187, Denny Hamlin squeezed Chase Elliott up the track. Elliott hit the wall, then hooked Hamlin in the right-rear quarter panel in the dogleg. Hamlin slammed the wall hard and bounced back into Elliott.

Elliott and Hamlin fell out of the race, in 34th and 35th.

NASCAR’s precedent for the suspension ironically lies with an incident involving Hamlin’s driver, Bubba Wallace, and another Hendrick driver, Kyle Larson.

Last fall at Las Vegas, Wallace hooked Larson into the frontstretch wall after Larson put him into the wall.

This is the first time NASCAR has ever suspended Elliott.

The Coca-Cola 600 was also the first time since Talladega where Hendrick Motorsports had their primary lineup racing. Now, at Gateway, they’ll go back to having at least one fill-in driver [Corey LaJoie in the No. 9].