NASCAR Review: Why Chase Elliott Was Penalized at COTA Cup Race

Last weekend saw NASCAR issue as many as 40 penalties across its three national series for cutting the road course in COTA. Lap time can be gained by cutting through the esses of the 3.4-mile track and the sanctioning body seeks to balance this unfair advantage right by enforcing a penalty. One of the drivers who succumbed to this rule was Chase Elliott when he drove through Turn 4 with 30 laps to go.

Though it was a clear infringement, Elliott did not do it on purpose. The Hendrick Motorsports driver got loose, had to correct himself, and missed his track limit line in the process. His team tried arguing the penalty with the officials, but it was ultimately enforced and the driver dropped from 6th place to 16th.

Talking to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition, reasoned the move to enforce the pass-through penalty on Elliott. He said, “They [Elliott’s #9 team] kept coming up that he wheel hopped, he had got loose, whatever that may be, that’s fair. I do believe that, but on the flip side you still have to make the call, or every driver, every team is going to be calling up (to the tower) and say, ‘Look, he got loose, he wheel hopped.’”

Sawyer also reasoned why they did not penalize drivers for going off course in Turn 1. “There’s no lap time there,” he said. “If there was lap time (to be gained), we would have to do it. The reason a lot of times they get out there, they get pushed out there.”

NASCAR admits flaws in track limit rules after denying Chase Elliott’s penalty appeal

Elliott’s crew chief Gustafson was heard saying on the radio during the race, “He got loose, NASCAR,” to which, Elliott responded, “Show them the data or something if it’ll help.” Upon making their case to the tower, their appeal was rejected for the reasons that Sawyer mentioned to SiriusXM.

“He got loose, NASCAR.” – Alan Gustafson on Chase Elliott radio about the penalty. “Show them the data or something, if it’ll help,” says Chase

— Kelly Crandall (@KellyCrandall) March 24, 2024

However, the vice president acknowledged that not all was right with the way they were doing things. He admitted that all the clout was on the promotion instead of the drivers because of the high number of penalties and said, “It’s way too much about us and not enough about the athletes and our teams and our pitstops and strategy and things of that nature. Some work to be done.” Hopefully, reevaluating the track limits will help reduce the severity of penalties in cases like Elliott’s.