NASCAR: Chase Elliott penalized before Atlanta race
By Asher Fair
Chase Elliott is set to drop to the rear of the field for his home NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway this afternoon.
For the second NASCAR Cup Series race in a row, Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott is set to drop to the rear of the field.
His #9 Chevrolet failed pre-race inspection twice ahead of this afternoon’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his home track.
Based on NASCAR’s starting lineup formula, Elliott had been slated to start this 325-lap race around the four-turn, 1.54-mile (2.478-kilometer) oval in Hampton, Georgia in fifth place.
Instead, he is set to drop to the back of the inside lane.
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Two other drivers will drop to the rear of the field as well, although both were already slated to start at the back of the pack anyway.
MBM Motorsports’ Timmy Hill, who was slated to start in 38th place behind the wheel of his #66 Toyota, is set to “drop to the rear” after the #66 Toyota failed pre-race inspection three times. However, in the 39-car field, he does not have anybody to drop behind on the outside lane.
StarCom Racing’s Quin Houff, who was slated to start in 36th behind the wheel of his #00 Chevrolet, is also set to “drop to the rear” after unapproved adjustments were made to the #00 Chevrolet ahead of the race. With Hill, the only driver set to start behind him on the outside lane, also set to “drop to the rear”, Houff won’t actually drop back either.
Here is the updated starting lineup for the 2021 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Starting Lineup
1st – Denny Hamlin
2nd – Martin Truex Jr.
3rd – Joey Logano
4th – Brad Keselowski
5th – Kevin Harvick
6th – Kyle Larson
7th – Christopher Bell
8th – William Byron
9th – Kurt Busch
10th – Ryan Blaney
11th – Austin Dillon
12th – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
13th – Bubba Wallace
14th – Alex Bowman
15th – Chris Buescher
16th – Aric Almirola
17th – Kyle Busch
18th – Michael McDowell
19th – Ross Chastain
20th – Matt DiBenedetto
21st – Ryan Preece
22nd – Erik Jones
23rd – Daniel Suarez
24th – Chase Briscoe
25th – Cole Custer
26th – Justin Haley
27th – Tyler Reddick
28th – Ryan Newman
29th – B.J. McLeod
30th – Corey LaJoie
31st – Anthony Alfredo
32nd – Garrett Smithley
33rd – James Davison
34th – Cody Ware
35th – Josh Bilicki
36th – Quin Houff
37th – Austin Cindric
38th – Timmy Hill
39th – Chase Elliott
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Tune in to Fox at 3:00 p.m. ET for the live broadcast of the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 from Atlanta Motor Speedway.