If one takes a peek inside the garages of Hendrick Motorsports after Sunday’s COTA race, it will display two polar opposite pictures. While two of the drivers are in for a treat after their impressive outing on the 2.4-mile-long road course, the other two are only left in despair. Especially the Hendrick Motorsports golden boy, Chase Elliott. 

There is no denying that the 2020 Cup Series champion is an ace when it comes to tracing the road course races of the series. However, since the rollout of the Next Gen car, the performance seemed to have hit rock bottom as the drivers failed to notch any significant- finishes on those tracks. A similar feat was evident during Sunday’s race. Although the driver had displayed a strong run, the arbitrage penalty issuance by NASCAR seemed to have made the racing community furious.

Chase Elliott’s plea to overturn the penalty falls on deaf ears

As a road course racer, Chase Elliott used to be second to none. He has scored 7 victories on road courses. Moreover, he leads the roster of all active drivers in wins on the road courses. However, since 2021, the most popular driver in NASCAR has failed to replicate similar results, and this was an event in the COTA race on Sunday.

Although Elliott initially displayed a strong run and raced within the top, it was not long before NASCAR slapped him with an unwarranted penalty. Due to this, the #9 Chevrolet was relegated from the 5th to the sixteenth position. The incident occurred with 30 laps to go into the race, and Elliott was dished out a pass-through penalty for cutting the course at Turn 3. Although the team tried to make an appeal, it fell on deaf ears.

The #9 Chevrolet team posted on Twitter, “Chase gets a penalty just after making the pass for fifth. The @NAPARacing team is trying to challenge it.”

Although the incident was not intentional but rather a result of getting loose at the wrong time and missing the line, NASCAR did not budge from its decision. Thus letting Elliott finish the race on a disappointing note.

Livid NASCAR fans trash the governing body for its decision

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Moreover, it was not just Chase Elliott’s crew chief, Alan Gustafson, who failed to comprehend the penalty but also the NASCAR fandom. The racing community was unable to decipher the basis on which the penalty was issued.

They took to Twitter to express their displeasure with NASCAR and their penalties. A fan commented, “What a joke, he got loose series is an embarrassment.”

“Unreal that these officials are actually terrible we aren’t f1.”

As a result of the penalty, the driver fell back in position and was unable to regain his track position. This resulted in a disappointing finish on one of his strongest turfs.

Nevertheless, other netizens also commented, “Not purposefully nor advantage.”

“Chase needs to penalize @NASCAR and go to F1.”

“Just got loose there can’t blame it on any one just a unfortunate occurrence.”

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With another good run gone to waste, it is to be seen what else is in store for Chase Elliott, who is yet to recover from his last season’s dejection, and whether he can notch a victory in the season.