NASCAR: Chase Elliott’s broken leg just saved him 100 points
By Asher Fair
Had Chase Elliott been competing at Phoenix Raceway, he would have been docked 100 points in the NASCAR Cup Series standings.
NASCAR dropped the hammer on Hendrick Motorsports this week after discovering that they had illegally modified a single source vendor part on each of their four cars, with the part in question being the hood louvers.
The louvers are the openings or vents in the hood which serve as a release point for ducts that transfer air out of the radiator.
NASCAR confiscated the louvers from each of the team’s four Chevrolets after Friday’s practice session, and they qualified and raced with different ones. Kyle Larson took the pole position and finished in fourth place behind the wheel of his No. 5 Chevrolet while William Byron earned his second straight win behind the wheel of his No. 24 Chevrolet.
Alex Bowman took the lead of the point standings with his ninth place finish behind the wheel of his No. 48 Chevrolet while Chase Elliott replacement Josh Berry finished in a career-high 10th behind the wheel of his No. 9 Chevrolet.
Berry is replacing Elliott because Elliott remains sidelined with a fractured left tibia he suffered in a Colorado snowboarding accident a few weeks ago.
Chase Elliott is expected to return to NASCAR Cup Series competition sometime in April.
On Wednesday, NASCAR decided to penalize Larson, Byron, and Bowman 100 points and 10 playoff points each. Additionally, the No. 5 team, No. 24 team, the No. 48 team, and the No. 9 team were all docked 100 points and 10 playoff points in the owner standings, and each team was fined $100,000. Four-week crew chief suspensions were also part of the hefty penalty.
Berry wasn’t docked points because of the fact that he is ineligible for Cup Series points as a full-time Xfinity Series driver, and Elliott wasn’t docked points because of the fact that he didn’t compete.
Bowman dropped from first to 23rd place in the point standings while Byron dropped from fourth to 29th and Larson dropped from a fifth place tie to 32nd. Elliott moved up to 26th and trails Bowman by just five points.
So Elliott’s absence effectively saved him 100 points.
Of course, by the time he is healthy enough to return, Elliott will likely end up being behind all three of his teammates in the standings.
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But unlike his teammates, he has not lost any of the points he has earned so far this season, and had he competed and not scored at least 100 points total at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Phoenix Raceway, he would actually be behind where he is right now. And more significantly, he did not get docked 10 playoff points.