Photo: Chris Owens/ASP, Inc.

Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports Penalized after Texas

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor

For the second time this season, Chase Elliott’s No. 9 team has found themselves in hot water with NASCAR.

On Wednesday, the sanctioning body penalized the Hendrick Motorsports entry for violating Section 20.4.87.1 of the NASCAR rule book, pertaining to the Rear Window Support and Structure. Per the rule book, “Rear Window Support Braces must keep the rear window glass rigid in all direction at all times.”

As a result of the penalty, crew chief Alan Gustafson has been suspended for two races and fined $50,000. The team was also docked 20 owner and driver points.

The penalty is the same one assessed to Kevin Harvick’s team after their win in Las Vegas.

Hendrick Motorsports announced shortly after the penalty news came out that they would not be appealing the penalty that was a result of an “unintentional support bracket failure at Texas Motor Speedway.”

Kenny Francis, the vehicle technical director at HMS, will serve as crew chief for Elliott in the next two points events at Bristol Motor Speedway and Richmond Raceway.

Wednesday’s penalty is the second L1 level penalty for the team after they were also penalized following last month’s race at ISM Raceway.

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David Morgan is the Associate Editor for Motorsports Tribune. A 2008 graduate from the University of Mississippi, David has followed NASCAR since the early 90’s and became hooked at an early age after attending his first race at Talladega Superspeedway in 1993. He has traveled across the country since 2012 to cover some of the most prestigious events both IndyCar and NASCAR have to offer, with an aim to only expand on that in the near future.