Chase Elliott wins at Pocono; Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch disqualified

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 Chase Elliott wins at Pocono;  Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch disqualified

Through Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer

LONG POND, Penn. — Denny Hamlin thought he deserved his seventh Pocono Racetrack Victory as he crossed the finish line first ahead of teammate Joe Gibbs Racing on Sunday Kyle Bush.

But in a rare move — the first of its kind since 1960 — NASCAR disqualified a cup winner. NASCAR found that both Hamlin’s winning car and Busch’s car had material in the front fascia (the car’s nose) that was not allowed under NASCAR rules. The material in question could affect the handling of the car.

Both Hamlin and Busch were disqualified, resulting in third-place finisher Chase Elliott being declared the winner.

JGR has until Monday noon to decide whether to appeal, which is very likely, and the appeal would be heard this week.

“There was really no reason why material was anywhere it shouldn’t have been,” said NASCAR Cup Series director Brad Moran. “And that basically boils down to a DQ. … I can’t go into all the details of the issues.

“But both vehicles had the same problem. And unfortunately they were not acceptable to pass the inspection.”

Hamlin’s final result was 35th and Busch 36th.

NASCAR will be bringing the cars back to its R&D center, but for now there will be no additional penalties or suspensions for the Hamlin and Busch teams.

Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch were disqualified after the Pocono race

Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch were disqualified after the Pocono race

Quick Thoughts: NASCAR must have thought the JGR violations were egregious to disqualify Sunday’s top two cars at Pocono.

Joe Gibbs said in a statement that the team will evaluate what happened. He did not say whether they would appeal.

“We were shocked to learn of the violation that resulted in our two cars failing NASCAR’s post-race technical inspection,” Gibbs said. “We plan to review every part of the process that led to this situation.”

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Here are three Pocono food stalls:

Elliott the leader

With Ross Chastain and Ryan Blaney not finishing the race due to accidents, Elliott now has a 105-point lead over Chastain for the regular-season title with five races remaining.

The regular season champion gets 15 playoff points and the runner-up gets 10. These playoff points are added to a driver’s reset total at the start of playoff rounds and can make a big difference in a driver’s progression in NASCAR’s postseason .

But Elliott wasn’t interested in discussing the regular-season title after Race Sunday when he thought he’d finished third and didn’t deserve his fourth win of the year.

“We were lucky to finish third,” said Elliott. “That means we have to get a little bit better and that’s what I’m concentrating on now: how do we improve, how do we get better than the guys who beat us today?”

Hamlin-Chastain duel

Hamlin took the lead while battling nemesis Chastain with 18 laps to go – Chastain spun and fell after being pinned against the wall by Hamlin – and Hamlin never looked back as he crossed the finish line ahead of his teammate.

Chastain said he didn’t think Hamlin would have pushed him like that if there hadn’t been a fight at Gateway and Atlanta.

“I’ve had that before,” Chastain said. “If I had driven smarter two months ago, I would have had a lot of space in Turn 1. I’ve realized that in the last month or two and it’s too late for that.”

Hamlin said the way he was driven by Chastain and others dictated how he raced.

“It’s a compliment that I wouldn’t normally do that,” Hamlin said. “And I wouldn’t. It’s unfortunate because I would have liked to have raced hard. And I did. I just drove up the track and he ran out of real estate.

“That’s just part of the sport that we have. NASCAR doesn’t interfere with these things because they want the drivers to handle it.”

Denny Hamlin crosses the finish line first in Pocono

Denny Hamlin crosses the finish line first in Pocono

Denny Hamlin holds off Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch to finish first in the Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway before being disqualified.

Ty Gibbs debuts as a sub for Kurt Busch

Kurt Busch missed Sunday’s race after suffering from concussion symptoms following a crash in Saturday’s qualifying session. Doctors at Pocono Raceway would not clear him to race after re-examining him Sunday morning.

That led to Ty Gibbs, grandson of Joe Gibbs and winner of four Xfinity Series races that season, making his Cup debut. Gibbs had never driven the Next Generation car, and he got some simulator time at 1 a.m. Sunday in North Carolina before flying back to Pocono for the race.

He finished the race 16th.

“I felt like I learned a lot,” said 19-year-old Gibbs. “I’m very grateful. It was almost a top 15. It was fun racing with Brad [Keselowski]. I never thought I would race with these guys.

“It was just cool to be next to them on the track. It means a lot to 10-year-old Ty. I don’t think I would ever expect that.”

Bob Pockrass has spent decades covering motorsport, including the past 30 Daytona 500. He joined FOX Sports in 2019 after working at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene Magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal . Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @bobpock breed. Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR newsletter with Bob Pockrass!


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