Has Chase Elliott apologized for Coco-Cola 600 incident involving Denny Hamlin?
Chase Elliott recently broke his silence on the Denny Hamlin incident in Charlotte.
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Chase Elliott (Credits: @TeamHendrick/Twitter) and Denny Hamlin (Credits: IMAGO)
Hendrick Motorsports’s Chase Elliott served a one-race suspension last weekend at Gateway. He was given the one-race ban for deliberate right rearing of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin in the Coco-Cola 600. It was the seventh Cup race event the 2020 Cup champion missed in 2023, as he previously sat out six races due to an injury following a snowboarding accident.
NASCAR deemed Elliott guilty of the incident after drawing parallels with Bubba Wallace-Kyle Larson’s incident in the 2022 playoffs. But unlike Wallace, who quickly apologized for the incident, the No:9 driver has yet to apologize publicly. Elliott even waited one whole week to voice his opinion on the penalty. He acknowledged that the incident was unfortunate but didn’t apologize.
“I think certainly it was an unfortunate circumstance on many accounts, and I hate that we’re in the position that we’re in. Obviously, it’s been a pretty wild year, even prior to last week or two weeks ago,” Elliott said.
“But yeah, look, I mean, I hate that I put our team and our partners and our fans and all the folks that make this go in a tough spot. Certainly glad Denny’s OK, and I understand NASCAR’s call and what they felt like they needed to do. So I respect all that,” Elliott added.
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Chase Elliott has already moved on and is getting set for Sonoma
The whole 2023 season so far has been a tough ride for the 2022 Regular season champion. Having missed seven races, he has to step up his game in the remaining 11 events starting from Sonoma, to secure a win and playoff spot. There are just six spots left for winners in the playoffs, and the Chevy champion is getting himself set for the win.
“For me personally, just looking forward to getting back to work and just trying to get in a groove because I don’t really feel like I’ve been in one throughout the year. It’s been kind of stop-and-go all season, unfortunately,” Elliott said.
He is focused on securing the all-important win and being one of his generation’s best road course racers; Sonoma is the right start. He said, “But the way I see it is there’s 11 races left (in the regular season), and we pretty much need to go win one of those to get in the show. So that’s where my head’s at right now,”.
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Justin P Joy
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