While Chase Elliott will be unable to compete in this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, the driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will remain Playoff eligible.
On Thursday, NASCAR confirmed that it had granted a request from Hendrick Motorsports for a Playoff waiver for Elliott, which was required for Elliott to remain Playoff eligible due to being suspended after NASCAR determined the Dawsonville, Georgia native had intentionally crashed Denny Hamlin during Monday’s Coca-Cola 600.
The 27-year-old driver missed six races earlier in the season due to a broken left leg, which was sustained in a snowboarding accident in Colorado.
Heading into this weekend’s race, the 15th of the 2023 season, Elliott sits 28th in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings.
Elliott had been making progress toward pointing his way into the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, as he was on a pace that would see him most likely work his way inside the top 16 of the championship standings by the end of the regular season.
However, this one-race suspension will certainly set him back some. However, Elliott, like any other driver outside the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs cutline, is just one win away from locking his position in the Playoffs.
Elliott’s best finish of the season was a second-place finish at Auto Club Speedway, the second race of the 2023 season. Elliott was injured leading into the third race of the season.
In the six races that Elliott has competed in since returning from his leg injury, he has an average finish of 12.833.
2 Responses
nascar was watching a different race then I did…..it looked to me just racing….guess denny can’t win unless he make sure others are out ….mayb he will be lucky and he will be the only one who races this weekend to make sure he has a win….what a sissy
I’m really excited about the upcoming ARCA Menards Series West race at Portland International Raceway! The mix of NASCAR stars like Cole Custer and Riley Herbst joining the field with the regular ARCA drivers promises to be an exhilarating event. I can’t wait to see if Sean Hingorani can make it three wins in a row for Venturini Motorsports, and I’m also curious to see how William Sawalich performs in his second West Series start. It’s going to be a thrilling weekend of road racing!