The wreck at Charlotte Motor Speedway is far from simmering down and is still the talk of the town. With a rear-end hooking with Denny Hamlin, the poster boy of NASCAR, Chase Elliott, had brought upon himself the wrath of the whole fraternity. Although both the drivers had retired from the race after the collision, it was Hamlin who got the worst of the exchange.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver had denied the charges that it was a deliberate move but was countered by Hamlin and the data he posted on Twitter after the race. He demanded the suspension of Elliott for a race as he considered it a ‘tantrum’. He also reinforced his stance by drawing the incident from the Bubba Wallace – Kyle Larson debacle from last year.
And rightly so, the No.9 Chevrolet driver is thrashed with a one-race suspension. But the question that arises; is whether one race ban is enough to set a stringent precedence. While a majority may choose to agree, Bubba Wallace Spotter has a different set of opinions about the punishment that was issued.
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Freddie Kraft Believes That Chase Elliott Should Be Charged More Than a Suspension
In the latest episode of Door Bumper Clear, co-host Freddie Kraft in the context of Chase Elliott’s suspension asked his fellow hosts and spotters, “Let me ask you guys a question, should drivers that get suspended, be eligible for the playoffs?”
To this Brett Griffin had expressed his clear stance, “Yes, I’ll tell you why. The sponsors and the team members their livelihoods shouldn’t hang on one guy, because, in any other sport, we are going to have a quarterback that gets suspended.”
“Well, another quarterback comes into play and your team can still make the playoffs. You can still win a championship, you can still win the next game. That’s why I am all for it.”
However, Kraft emphasized the fact, “I’m just saying this on just driver’s side like you can leave the owner’s point in there and the team is not affected by that the team’s not affected by that. But my point is, this doesn’t really affect Chase if Chase is not suspended.”
He also drew a hypothetical situation by stating, “But say a guy like [William] Byron goes out there and does something that will, especially on the track over aggression, does something that warrants a suspension, what does that cost him?”
To this Griffin retorted, “Nothing, maybe $75,000-$100,000.”
While TJ Majors opined, “I think suspension like that’s for that, set them to sit out a week sit in your car, out there but if there’s…”
However, Bubba Wallace Insider was firm with his opinions. He clearly stated, “If you are not losing anything, what’s the purpose? What’s the point of it? Like, in my mind, if you are suspended, if you are William Byron and you do something egregious enough to get suspended on the racetrack. This is a big deal, like you are doing something that’s harming other drivers or putting other drivers in harm. This is a big deal.”
“This isn’t something to gloss over. You should lose whatever playoff eligibility you’ve already guarded. You shouldn’t, your wins should not count, you have to win again or point your way back in. You have to make this hurt to make these guys to stop f***ing doing this because obviously, it didn’t stop when Bubba got suspended last year. So you have to make this hurt right now.”
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Should Chase Elliott Be Suspended From Playoffs as Well? Is That Freddie Kraft Referring To?
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Even Majors agreed with the penalizing of points, “I mean, I’d agree with taking away your playoff wins.”
Kraft once again asserted, “My point is a suspension for somebody that’s already locked in the playoffs, means nothing…He lost, he knows he’s good, he can do whatever you want. So you could hook somebody because what’s the worst gonna happen, they’re gonna suspend me for a week. I’m good with that. I mean, they got a sub already ready to go.”
“But make this hurt to make these guys think about this stuff again. Like, make them think twice because we saw if this is you know the message was supposed to be sent last year when they suspended Bubba, well Chase didn’t get that message apparently. He just did the exact same thing.”
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With the stances clearly being stated by the veteran spotters of NASCAR, it is really to be seen what is in store for Chase Elliott and his wreck saga. Will this be an ultimatum for Elliott as well as other drivers, or will things escalate further and add fuel to this controversy?