Update (5:30 p.m. ET): Corey LaJoie will drive the No. 9 for Hendrick Motorsports instead of the suspended Chase Elliott, while Carson Hocevar will fill in for LaJoie in Spire Motorsports’ No. 7.
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Chase Elliott has been suspended for one NASCAR Cup Series after a crash with Denny Hamlin at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 29, NASCAR announced May 30.
Elliott will no longer compete in this week’s Cup event at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
A replacement for Elliott in Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 9 has not yet been announced.
In the Coca-Cola 600, Elliott made contact with Hamlin’s right rear on the frontstretch, turning Hamlin’s No. 11 into the outside wall and ending both drivers’ days.
Afterward, Hamlin called the contact intentional and called for Elliott to be punished, while Elliott claimed he did not wreck Hamlin on purpose.
Elliott has not commented on the incident.
Elliott is currently 29th in Cup points after missing multiple races toward the beginning of the 2023 season due to injury. He has two top fives and four top 10s in eight starts.
Kevin Rutherford is the executive editor of Frontstretch, a position he gained in 2025 after being the managing editor since 2015, and serving on the editing staff since 2013.
At his day job, he's a journalist covering music and rock charts at Billboard. He lives in New York City, but his heart is in Ohio -- you know, like that Hawthorne Heights song.
Totally worth it. His year was pretty well shot when he got hurt and had to sit out. He should put Hamlin in the wall every other week. Sit out one week on suspension, put Hamlin in the wall the next, sit out the next, etc., etc., etc..
BTW, I am fine with anyone that purposely wrecks someone being suspended. I hope NASCAR sticks to this precedent.
Can’t say it wasn’t warranted. Hopefully other drivers will get the message. If they’ll penalize Elliott, they’ll penalize anyone. Elliott will be fine, and hopefully he learned an important lesson as well. Kudos to NASCAR.