Chase Elliott goes on F-Bomb tirade, criticizes NASCAR at Indy

Pursuit Elliott was running second in the Brickyard 400 and 25 laps into the NASCAR Cup Series race, his team followed Denny Hamlin and the other cars into pit road. The No. 9’s stop proved to be dramatically different, or at least its exit was in NASCAR’s eyes, when officials assessed a penalty to the 2020 Cup Series champion for crossing the mixing line while exiting pit road.

The 28-year-old fiercely disagreed with the decision of the competent authority and openly expressed his displeasure via team radio.

“I mean, what the (expletive)? They sent out the (expletive) sheet yesterday,” Elliott angrily told his team. “Do exactly what they (expletive) tell us to do.”

“Did they show you the black flag?” asked team manager Alan Gustafson.

The driver did not respond to the question, but continued his tirade.

“They didn’t say line,” Elliott insisted. “They said racing surface. So tell me how the (expletive) I was on the (expletive) racing surface.”

“Okay, focus forward,” Gustafson said, trying to redirect his driver. “They’re wrong. They’re wrong. Focus forward. There’s nothing we can do now. In the future, if they don’t black flag “You, don’t stop until I fix it.”

“No, they had a black flag for me,” replied the HMS driver.

Despite his anger, the penalty did not affect his day as the No. 9 finished second on Stage 2 and tenth overall in the race.

Chase Elliott had company on Pit Road Penalty

Interestingly, another Cup champion, Brad Keselowski, received the same penalty during that stop. He was just as confused by the NASCAR officials’ decision and gave a very different response.

“So either I can’t read or they don’t know how to referee – one of the two,” the RFK Racing driver/co-owner said over the radio.

“Above the outer white line is considered the racing surface, so that is not in the email,” his crew assured him.

“I’m sorry about this, guys. That’s evidently My mistake at the end of the day,” the driver apologized. “I’ve been racing here on the oval circuit for 13 years and you were able to drive out like that. You get an email the night before saying you’re allowed to drive out like that and then you get a penalty before. I don’t even know what to say to that.”

Elliott receives second pit lane penalty in as many weeks

What’s even more interesting about Elliott getting a penalty for something in the pit lane is because the happened the week before at the Pocono race on July 14, when the No. 9 was caught speeding. It was a notable moment because it ended his streak of 92 races without a speeding penalty.

The driver was in a very different mentality in that situation, but his crew chief again claimed NASCAR was wrong.

“How much faster were we?” Elliott asked.

“.16 mile “An hour,” the team leader replied.

“I do not understand of “The rest of the day had been okay,” the driver asked. “I don’t feel like I was that different.”

“That zone was way off from the start,” Gustafson told him. “It’s been way off. You know, you just fly blind on it. It was wrong, so just now don’t focus on it. Unfortunately they have their own “That’s where the mistake lies.”

Alan Gustafson is being a good team leader who stands behind his driver – even when he is wrong.