Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott was stripped of a 13th-place finish and a stage win, and their accompanying points, after Sunday’s Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. The penalties were results of five loose or missing lug nuts discovered on the #9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in post-race inspection.
“It’s unfortunate. The lug nuts on the No. 9 were loose at the end of the race,” Hendrick Motorsports Vice President of Competition Chad Knaus said “At the end of the race, Chase had a vibration. There were quite a few tire issues through the course of the day, so they were hopeful that it was just a cord or something in the tire that was creating the vibration, so they chose to run the race out. It’s unfortunate that the lug nuts vibrated loose on the left-rear and now we are sitting here with a disqualification for the 9 team.”
After the penalties, Elliott was credited with a last [39th] place finish. He originally was credited with a stage-one win at lap 90 after staying out during a late-stage caution. That stage win, instead, went to Kurt Busch, who was running second to Elliott at stage-end.
