Chase Elliott speaks about Pocono victory. Kurt Busch's concussion raises safety questions. Joe Gibbs Racing doesn't file appeals on Pocono penalties and reveals the issues that led to DQs. Plus, Ty Gibbs impressive NASCAR Cup debut.
Chase Elliott speaks about Pocono victory
While Chase Elliott will take the five playoff points he gains as part of his victory at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, he's less than thrilled about the way he picked up the win, given the fact that he crossed the finish line third behind Hamlin and Busch, Fox Sports reports.
Elliott learned hours later that Hamlin and Busch were disqualified for having impermissible material in the noses of their cars, therefore, giving him the first place finish.
"I don't know that it's really a win that I'm going to celebrate anyway," Elliott said on Monday. "For me, I don't really feel right celebrating someone else's misfortune."
"It's not necessarily something I'm proud of or something I'm going to boast about throughout the course of this situation," Elliott added. "I thought we were very fortunate to run third, to be real honest."
Kurt Busch concussion raises safety questions about NASCAR's new Next Gen Car
Kurt Busch has the distinction of suffering the first major driver injury for NASCAR in its new Next Gen car, Fox Sports reported. Bush was forced to miss the cup series race at Pocono Raceway on Sunday after suffering concussion-like symptoms following the crash in qualifying on Saturday.
Denny Hamlin commented on the Next Gen car: "Especially with a rear impact — typically in NASCAR, drivers really don’t get hurt hitting in the back. We just have to look into it and figure out what we’ve got to do to make it better."
Joe Gibbs racing doesn't file appeals on Pocono penalties
Two cars belonging to the Joe Gibbs Racing were disqualified in Sunday's Cup Race at Pocono Raceway, and it just happened to be those driven by the first and second place finishers, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch.
It is the first time since 1960 that a Cup winner was disqualified, NBC Sports reported.
Two hours after the race, NASCAR announced that the cars driven by Hamlin and Busch had been disqualified for having impermissible material in the noses of their cars.
Brad Moran, managing director of the Cup Series, said both cars had material that impacts the "aero of the vehicle" and "there really is no reason why there was some material that was somewhere it shouldn’t have been. That does basically come down to a DQ."
Joe Gibbs racing did not appeal the decision but issued a statement saying: "We were shocked to learn of the infraction that caused our two cars to fail NASCAR’s post-race technical inspection. We plan to review every part of the process that led to this situation."
Joe Gibbs reveals issue that led to DQs
Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) released an additional statement on Monday after reviewing the vehicles of Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch to determine the issue that led to the disqualification, Motorsport reported.
"In our review of the post-race infractions on the Nos. 11 and 18 cars at Pocono it was discovered that a single piece of clear tape was positioned over each of the lower corners of the front fascia ahead of the left-front and right-front wheel openings on both those cars," the statement from JGR said. "The added pieces were 2 inches wide and 5½ inches long with a thickness of 0.012 inches and installed under the wrap. This change in our build process was not properly vetted within our organization and we recognize it is against NASCAR’s rules."
Ty Gibbs' impressive NASCAR Cup debut.
Ty Gibbs, grandson of Joe Gibbs, was chosen to replace Kurt Busch after he crashed on Saturday's practice. Gibbs made his NASCAR Cup debut at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, running mid-pack much of the day, and finishing 16th, NBC Sports reported.
"The most important thing right now is about Kurt’s health, and hopefully he can get back in this seat," Gibbs said. "He drives way better than me, so he deserves this. He’s been awesome. He’s helped me out so much. I want to say thank you to him."