On-track tempers flared in the inaugural Enjoy Illinois 300 at World-Wide Technology Raceway, formally known as Gateway Motorsports Park. The three drivers that found themselves in hot water were Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott vs Ross Chastain.
It all started in turn one when Chastain and Hamlin made contact to bring out the caution on lap 66. Hamlin, after making repairs on pit road and being multiple laps down, made it very difficult for Chastain.
“It’s good to take responsibility, but ultimately, it ruined our day,” Hamlin told FS1 after the race. “I think we were kinda racing hard there on the inside and tried to keep sliding up in front of us and wasn’t able to because I wasn’t willing to back off and let him slide up in front.”
Later, on lap 103, Chastain, Bubba Wallace, and Chase Elliott got caught up in an incident on the frontstretch that displayed the fourth yellow flag of the day. Elliott, in addition to Hamlin, also became displeased with Chastain on the track.
“Just terrible driving. It’s one thing to do it once but I just kept driving into guys,” Chastain told FS1 after the event. “At this level, I’m supposed to be better than that. Just shame.”
Chastain moved on to finish eighth – scoring his eighth top-five and ninth top 10 finish.
“I deserve everything they do,” Chastain said on if he’ll think he’ll face retaliation later on.
Elliott drove to a 21st-place finish while Hamlin took home 34th – finishing 11 laps down.
About Me: Brett has been following the sport of NASCAR since the beginning of the 2006 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Since Brett was 13, he has had a passion of chasing a job in sports that not many get the opportunity of doing. He has been in the NASCAR media since the middle of the 2010 season. Since then, he has been a part of many racing podcast shows to improve his talents. He has written for racingonfuel.com and theracingwheel.com. Currently, Brett writes for motorsportsnat.com and TracksideChatter.com. You can find him on twitter @NASCAR_Brett.
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