Raceday ended early for Chase Eliott and Denny Hamlin at the Charlotte Motor Speedway following a collision. With the 2022 Coca-Cola 600 winner out of the picture, Ryan Blaney bagged his first win of the season, blasting his way to the top of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series leaderboard. 

A right-rear hook from Elliott on lap 186 sent Denny Hamlin crashing into the wall. Believing the wreck was an act of retaliation on Elliott’s end, NASCAR officials handed out a one-race suspension to Eliott, citing Sections 4.3.A and 4.4.C & D of the NASCAR Member Code of Conduct.

After missing out on the race at Gateway Motorsports Park, Chase Elliott opened up about his suspension.

I get it: Chase Elliott reflects on NASCAR’s penalty decision, admits that mistakes were made

Having had ample time to reflect on his actions, Elliott spoke to FOX: NASCAR’s Bob Pockrass recently. Talking about his penalty, Elliott admitted to making mistakes and how he has missed out on seven races owing to his injury and penalty. “Certainly I respect the penalty. […] I get it, and I respect their decision,” a visibly disappointed Elliott said.

He further went on to say, “Life happens. Not everybody is perfect and mistakes are going to be made. You’re going to have tough times. That’s just part of it, and I can’t change the things that have happened.

“I certainly wouldn’t want to miss the amount of races I have missed this year. I feel like I’ve missed about half of ’em. So yeah, I don’t want that, you know, that’s not me doing my end of my job right, and that’s being here at the race track and doing my part for our partners and my team and our fans and all the people that make this go. So yeah, certainly I don’t love it. I’m not proud of it by any means, but we are in the position we are in and I can’t change the past.

“All I can do now personally and all we can do now as a team is keep our eyes focused forward and make sure we are doing our part to prepare the best we can for the upcoming races and execute the ones that are here in front of us.”

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Following the collision on track during the Memorial Day weekend, a furious Denny Hamlin called for the suspension of Chase Elliott. Hamlin considered the bump from Elliott to be intentional while Elliott denied the accusations, stating he lost control.

Speaking to the press post-race, the 23XI Racing co-owner demanded that NASCAR should take disciplinary action against Elliott, similar to what was enforced against Bubba Wallace last year after his incident with Kyle Larson.

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However, even though the 2023 NASCAR season has been disappointing for Chase Elliott fans, there still lies hope for a strong comeback from Hendrick Motorsports star driver.