NASCAR: Chase Elliott moves up in standings after being suspended
By Asher Fair
Chase Elliott was suspended for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Gateway. But he is now in 28th place in the standings, not 29th.
Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott got one little sliver of good news on Wednesday, just one day after it was announced that NASCAR had suspended him for this coming Sunday afternoon’s Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
Elliott was suspended for hooking the No. 11 Toyota of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin in the right rear coming out of turn four in Monday’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a move that NASCAR deemed to be an intentional act of retaliation. Bubba Wallace was suspended for one race for a similar move last October at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
But on Wednesday, Elliott moved up one position in the point standings, jumping from 29th to 28th place as a result of a 120-point penalty that was issued to Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe.
A counterfeit part was discovered by NASCAR in Briscoe’s No. 14 Ford at the R&D Center following Monday’s Coca-Cola 600.
Briscoe’s penalty dropped him from 292 points down to 172, while Elliott, who missed six races earlier this season with a fractured left tibia, has scored 215.
Elliott is one of 14 drivers who moved up one position in the point standings as a result of Briscoe’s penalty, since Briscoe dropped all the way from 17th to 31st place with the 120-point deduction.
The other 13 drivers who moved up include Ty Gibbs, Daniel Suarez, Corey LaJoie, Austin Cindric, Michael McDowell, Justin Haley, Todd Gilliland, A.J. Allmendinger, Aric Almirola, Erik Jones, and Ryan Preece.
Elliott still sits 81 points below the playoff cut line with 12 races remaining on the regular season schedule, though that number is all but guaranteed to increase this weekend with him sidelined for the Enjoy Illinois 300 presented by TicketSmarter.
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LaJoie, who drives the No. 7 Chevrolet full-time for Spire Motorsports, is set to replace Elliott behind the wheel of the No. 9 Chevrolet in this coming Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 presented by TicketSmarter, which is set to be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 from World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don’t miss it!