After an impressive streak of 92 races without a speeding penalty, Chase Elliott was caught exceeding the speed limit in Section 7 of the pit road at Pocono Raceway. But he wasn’t alone in this misstep—Kyle Larson, Austin Cindric, and Daniel Suárez were also flagged for the same infraction. The penalty was a major setback for the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports team, forcing Elliott to the back of the field and making him navigate through heavy traffic. This costly mistake ultimately robbed him of a well-deserved top-5 finish, adding a dramatic twist to an already intense race day.

Forced to settle for ninth at Pocono Raceway, Chase Elliott expressed his views about the speeding penalty, expecting to avoid getting clarity from NASCAR about exactly what went wrong in the notorious Section 7 of the pit road.

Chase Elliott is looking to move on from the Pocono penalty

Before the race at Pocono, more than 30 drivers were caught speeding on the pit road during pre-race checks. Unsurprisingly, it all had to do with Section 7, forcing teams to make adjustments before the race. However, both Hendrick Motorsports drivers, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, probably didn’t get the memo, as other teams managed to navigate the problem with no penalties, while the championship contenders were found guilty of pushing their luck too far in the last cycle of pit stops.

Speaking about his speeding penalty at Pocono Raceway via Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports, Chase Elliott said, “To be honest with you, I haven’t got a straight answer. You’re not going to get a straight answer from NASCAR, which is fine. But it’s just, it was a bummer. Whether the zone was too short or the zone wasn’t short enough, we hit an X amount of pit stops throughout the day where I wasn’t speeding and everybody else, apart from the handful of guys that got caught, weren’t speeding either. I just chalk it up as a mistake on my part really at the end of the day. There’s nothing I can do about it, so what does it matter now really?”

While Elliott currently leads the driver standings in the NASCAR Cup Series, his ninth-place finish at Pocono Raceway has made the championship race much more interesting. As things stand, only three points separate Elliott from his teammate Kyle Larson, with Tyler Reddick breathing down their necks, just 15 points behind in third place. With five races to go before the playoffs begin in Atlanta, four drivers remain in contention for the regular-season championship.

Chase Elliott will hope to put his Pocono Raceway woes behind him as NASCAR heads toward Indianapolis Motor Speedway to race at the Oval after a three-year break. It wasn’t the first time Elliott has not seen eye-to-eye with a NASCAR ruling, as the 28-year-old had publicly expressed that Bubba Wallace didn’t deserve to be fined for the cool-down lap incident with Alex Bowman. This time around, it was Elliott’s crew chief, Alan Gustafson, who backed the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro for the speeding penalty.

Crew chief Alan Gustafson backs Elliott despite the NASCAR penalty

Trending

Despite 2023 Disaster, Chase Elliott Risks Angering Rick Hendrick by Choosing Alex Bowman’s HMS Banned Tactic

What Is Left of Denny Hamlin’s Depleting Core After Having to Deal With a Nearly $70 Billion Loss?

NASCAR Rumors: Corey LaJoie’s Cup Future Dependent on ‘$’ Amid Rick Ware’s Hopes of Tony Stewart’s SHR Replay

NASCAR Rumor: Handed $25,000 Fine, Xfinity Star Could Replace Chevy’s Rejected Prodigy

“To the Death”: Kyle Busch Offers Martin Truex Jr. a Rare Alliance to Survive ‘Hunger Games of NASCAR’

The irony wasn’t lost on Chase Elliott or his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports team that going too fast is what ultimately cost him valuable track positions. In what was expected to be the final round of pit stops, Chase Elliott wound up third off pit road, with the strategy hoping both himself and Kyle Larson would be in a good position for the ensuing restart. After being found guilty and forced to the back of the pack, both the Hendrick Motorsports drivers clawed their way back through the field, with Larson ending up 13th and Elliott finishing 9th.

On receiving the penalty, Chase Elliott and his crew chief, Alan Gustafson, were heard talking about it on the team radio. “How much too fast were we?” Elliott asked. “.16 miles an hour,” Gustafson responded. “I don’t understand with the rest of the day had been okay,” the driver questioned. “I don’t feel like I was that much different.” In response, his crew chief told him, “That zone was way off from the get-go. It’s been way off. You know, you’re just flying blind on it. It’s been wrong, so just don’t focus on it. Unfortunately, they didn’t admit their own fault there.”

With a lot to race for, Chase Elliott will now shift his attention to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where drivers will be racing on the famed oval after a three-year break. The 28-year-old looked to have a top-three car on pace alone at Pocono, and if his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports team devises a good race strategy, there is no reason Elliott couldn’t secure his second win of the season.

Do you think Chase Elliott deserved a speeding penalty at Pocono? Let us know in the comments!