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NASCAR Addresses Chase Elliott Penalty and Why It Denied Driver's Argument

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Kyle Dalton | Last updated Mar 25, 2025 12:58 PM ET

Chase Elliott started 18th on Sunday in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Homestead. At the end of Stage 1, the 2020 champion had moved up to 14th. By the end of Stage 2, the Hendrick Motorsports driver had continued his steady progression forward and finished 9th. And then things went south.

On the pit stop during the stage break, NASCAR officials nabbed the No. 9 for not entering pit road in a single file. Moments after being informed of the penalty, the driver pleaded his case over the team radio.

“Just have them look at it because I gave the spot back,” Elliott said. “They all checked up. I moved left to not run in the back of someone, and then I gave him the spot back before I even turned down. Just have 'em look at it. That's a very reasonable thing.”

A short time later, crew chief Alan Gustafson responded to his driver with bad news.

“Newsflash: They're not interested in anything but their decision,” he told the driver. “So that's where we're at. Yeah, it was a lot of fun when we used to be able to race, but now it's just — yeah, gotta go back to law school. Gotta be a litigator. So many rules.”

On Tuesday, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Competition Elton Sawyer appeared on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and addressed the penalty.

During a Tuesday appearance on @SiriusXMNASCAR, @NASCAR's Elton Sawyer addressed the penalty to @chaseelliott at @HomesteadMiami. pic.twitter.com/DJR60VsG5j
— Kyle Dalton (@kdsportswriter) March 25, 2025

”The reason the rule is in place is it's safety,” Sawyer said. “So in the case with the No. 9 – and I believe he was beside the No. 2 – and if you just imagine that the No. 2 is pitting in the very first pit box. So if he's in line and as soon as he crosses the pit entry line, then he's gonna be turning left to get into his box.

“Well, if there's another car, in this case it was the No. 9, if he's there, then he's just gonna turn him around on pit road. We can see chaos without introducing it on our own as we saw with the Nos. 22 and the 21.

“But in this case, you just need to be single-file entering. It's pretty straightforward. If you look at the in-car of the No. 9, it really gives you a really good indication of exactly what happened there. So hopefully that kind of clears it up.”

Elliott dropped back after the penalty and finished 18th.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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