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A massive L-3 Penalty has be levied against the #14 team following Charlotte.  Chase Briscoe's #14 Mahindra Tractors Mustang Pre-Race at Charlotte. Image: SHR Following Monday night's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, the #14 Mustang of Stewart-Haas Racing's Chase Briscoe was brought back to the NASCAR R&D center just a few miles away from the track for the random inspections. Following the inspection, the team was found to be in violation of Sections 14.1.C & F (Overall Assembled Vehicle Rules) & 14.6.A (Underwing; 14.6.3B Engine Panel. The part in question is the engine panel portion of the underwing. (see image below) The L 3 Penalty consists of 120 Driver and Owner Points, 25 Playoff Points, a 6 week suspension and $250,000 fine for Johnny Klausmeier Crew Chief of the 14. Greg Zipadelli of SHR on the penalty, "We had a quality control lapse amd a part that never should've been on a car going to the racetrack ended up on the No. 14 car at Charlotte. We will not appeal" By: Tom Luttermoser  Image by Bozi Tatarevic on Twitter
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Zane Smith had his best Cup race to date Monday night, let's see exactly what made it spotlight worthy.  Zane Smith's Boot Barn #38 Mustang at the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. Image: FRM As of this past weekend's Coke 600, Zane has now made a whopping total of 6 starts in the NASCAR Cup Series. He made 1 start last year for Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing as a fill-in in the #17, He's made 1 start in the Rick Ware Racing #51 at Bristol in the dirt and 4 races now for Front Row Motorsports in the #36 & 38 cars. In those 5 prior races, his career best finish is P.13 at this year's Daytona 500.
But what makes him our spotlight driver of the race was the fact he was competitive when it mattered even leading 3 laps for the first time in his short career in his Boot Barn #38 Mustang. Most importantly, Zane Smith was there at the end of the race scoring his first ever Top-10 finish finishing P10. By: Tom Luttermoser Chase Elliott will face a 1 race suspension this weekend at Gateway. LaJoie to fill in and you'll be shocked by his fill-in!  Chase Elliott & the 9 crew on Pit road at the Coke 600 at Charlotte. Image: Hendrick Motorsports Chase Elliott will officially face a 1 race suspension for intentionally wrecking the #11 of Denny Hamlin during green flag conditions during yesterday's Coca-Cola 600. This marks only the 6th driver in the sport's history to be suspended for intentionally wrecking an opponent, the most recent being Bubba Wallace last year.
SMT data proved that Elliott made the hard left turn into the 11 on lap 185 of the Coke 600 and it clearly did not take long for NASCAR to make up their minds. Elliott will be replaced by none other than Spire Motorsports' Corey LaJoie in the #9 NAPA Chevrolet. Corey's fill-in will be none other than Carson Hocevar who will be getting a crash course in what will become his Cup Series debut. Hendrick Motorsports will not Appeal the suspension but stated that they will file for another Playoff Waver. By: Tom Luttermoser Chase Elliott has not been known for retaliation on track or off of it, but Monday rang a different tune for the fan favorite. Denny Hamlin brings the receipts  CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA - MAY 29: Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 BodyArmor Cherry Lime Ford, Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Patriotic Chevrolet, Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota, and Ross Chastain, driver of the #1 AdventHealth Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 29, 2023 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images) For years, Chase Elliott has been seen as NASCAR's fan favorite. Voted Most Popular Driver 5x in a row by the fans, Chase is seen as a mild tempered, cool headed and very solid driver. In 2020, the MPD scored his only championship to date in Phoenix and he did it without the beating and banging and "dirty tactics" of some drivers in the past. But Chase's timid nature has been seen by some as his achilles heel. With so many drivers using up Chase into corners or throwing late blocks. The biggest that comes to everyone's mind was the Fall Martinsville race from 2017. Elliott was leading late until Hamlin shoved Elliott into the corner of 3 causing him to slam drivers door first into the wall. But Chase proved to everyone 2 races later at Phoenix that he wasn't going to just be pushed around. He ran Hamlin up into the outside wall late in the race causing the 11 to lose a tire and hit the wall again to take him out of the race and out of a Round of 4 appearance. 2023 Coke 600Lap 185, Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin exchanged a few door bangs for about half a lap or so before Hamlin (intentionally or not) drove the 9 up into the wall coming out of Turn 4. Elliott then appeared to come directly down the track into the right side of the 11 causing him to turn violently into the outside wall with a massive hit. The incident caused the 9 severe damage as well and resulted in a P34 finish for Elliott and P35 for Hamlin. At first glance, it's about 50/50 on the contact being intentional. From the looks of things, it could have been innocent with the 9 being broken and coming down the track. The 6 of Brad Keselowski made contact with the left rear of the 9 as it came down the track and that could have been what turned the 9 into the 11. Or of course, the 9 could have just been flat out fed up. Denny Hamlin after leaving the infield care center made his opinion pretty obvious. The 9 turned down on him just like Wallace did to Larson at Vegas last year and stated that they should suspend Elliott for the Gateway weekend. Chase Elliott said after leaving the ICC that it was just an unfortunate circumstance, blaming the damage to the right side of the 9. Brad Keselowski post race said that it happened too fast for him to judge. Hamlin Brings Receipts SMT Data from moment of contact. Image: Denny Hamlin While in his motorhome after being taken out early, Denny Hamlin brought out the good ol' SMT data to prove his point. As you can see above at the moment of contact the steering input on the 9 car was the hardest to the left that he had turned the wheel all day, you also see break input hard toward the floor. To read SMT, the higher the line goes, the more input from the driver. The Blue line shows the timing of the incident lap 185, Yellow shows Elliott's line on lap 183. I've seen a lot of people saying it is due to the car being damaged, but that doesn't control driver input (which is all SMT records). The SMT shows the intent of the driver. Either for or against, I'll let you be the judge. My OpinionIt's pretty obvious that Chase Elliott hit the Breaks and turned hard left. It would in fact have been less believable if Chase flat-out admitted guilt. But I believe that NASCAR set a precedent last season with the Wallace/ Larson incident. Elliott intentionally attempted to right hook the 11 car sending him dangerously fast into the outside wall head-on. It was unacceptable at Vegas, it should be unacceptable here.
Don't get me wrong, I 100% understand the frustration, even retaliation. In this situation, I'd have been pissed too, but right hooking someone is unacceptable. By: Tom Luttermoser Monday night, Justin Allgaier broke a record for non-Cup drivers at Charlotte.  CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA - MAY 29: Justin Allgaier, driver of the #7 Unilever Military DeCA RCPT Chevrolet, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series Alsco Uniforms 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 29, 2023 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) Via Media.NASCAR In a streak that started back on March 18th, 2017 in his sophomore season at Junior Motorsports, Justin Allgaier has found a home in Victory Lane at least once per year now for 7 years straight. That is the new record for a non-Cup Series full-time driver. Late Monday night, Justin led a race-high 83 laps to score his first win of 2023. That win just so happens to be Jr Motorsports' first win of the season as well. Justin Allgaier has won a total of 17 times since joining Junior Motorsports and their powerhouse Xfinity Series program with a personal record of 5 wins in 2018 and a low of a single victory at Phoenix in the fall of 2019. Since that day in March of 2017, Justin Allgaier has won at Phoenix twice, Darlington twice, Dover twice, Swept Richmond in 2020, Iowa, Mid-Ohio, Atlanta, Road America, Indianapolis, Chicagoland, Nashville, New Hampshire, and now Charlotte. Allgaier is now tied at 16th with Greg Biffle for all-time Xfinity Series wins at 20 but sits firmly atop the list of Full-time drivers in the series. With all that being said, Allgaier has a lot more wins left in him. By: Tom Luttermoser
Blaney wins an exciting Monday Coke 600 over William Byron to win his first Crown Jewel.  Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 BodyArmor Cherry Lime Ford, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 29, 2023 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images) Via Media.NASCAR Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 was rained out well before it's 6pm start time to be rescheduled for 3pm Monday afternoon. The green flag dropped over William Byron and Kevin Harvick on the front row. Stage 1 belonged to Byron who scored his 7th Stage win of the season. Stage 2 went to Chris Buescher for his first stage win on 2023. Stage 3 went to eventual race winner Ryan Blaney for his first Stage win of the season as well. Ryan Blaney led a race high 163 laps to win his first crown jewel event. This is also the most laps he has ever led in a race. After parking the 12 on the finish line during his post race interview, Blaney said he could cry and was clearly vary emotional. He said that after such a long winless streak you question if you can win again. The win for team owner Roger Penske is his 3rd Coca-Cola 600 victory and the first time Team Penske has won the Indy 500 and Coke 600 in the same year. Race Highlights
Top-10 Finishers
By: Tom Luttermoser
"Iconic", "Snoozefest", "Boring", "Historic"  A general view of NASCAR Cup Series drivers (Back Row L-R) Ryan Blaney, Josh Bilicki, Erik Jones, Noah Gragson, Aric Almirola, Corey LaJoie, Ross Chastain, Ty Gibbs, Bubba Wallace, Ty Dillon, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Daniel Suarez, Chase Briscoe, Christopher Bell, Michael McDowell, Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott, Austin Cindric, Martin Truex Jr., (Front Row L-R) Chandler Smith, Harrison Burton, Kyle Larson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Joey Logano, William Byron, Justin Haley, AJ Allmendinger, Kevin Harvick, Austin Dillon, Todd Gilliland, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Preece, JJ Yeley, and Tyler Reddick pose on track for a photo at North Wilkesboro Speedway on May 19, 2023 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) Via Media.NASCAR NASCAR's return to the historic North Wilkesboro Speedway was without a doubt one of the most hyped-up events in the recent history of the sport. Right up there with the Daytona 500 & the Chicago Street Race, NASCAR, the media, and Speedway Motorsports Inc pushed the "Racetrack Revival" to the masses and with a 30,000-fan capacity it was clear that, at least at the track it worked. Fans packed the stands for Sunday's All-Star Event at what appeared to be just under capacity. There was a fantastic showing for the Open, the Heat races as well as the Tyson 250 Craftsman Truck race as well.
Fan reactions after Sunday however were less than favorable however. With terms and words like "snoozefest, Boring, Waste of 2 hours of my life" and sooooo much more. being seen all across social media, it's hard to think that many fans enjoyed the race. With Kyle Larson at one point running nearly 16 seconds over Bubba Wallace in second, I get it, I really do. But this race at this track was never meant to bring in newer, younger fans. This event was targeted directly at NASCAR's legacy fanbase. I was only about 5 the last time we raced at Wilkesboro, so I cannot quite call myself a Legacy fan. I think of myself as a "Core" fan, No driver allegiance since Gordon retired, I attend 3-4 or more races a year and I haven't missed a single National Series race since halfway through 2020. This event was targeted at fans like myself and those who came before. But it was even fans in my group of the Core fanbase who absolutely hated what they saw on track. It's no secret our current short track program sucks for those watching. The speedway was never known for its exciting 2 or 3 wide action, But some fans held it on such a pedestal that it was just never going to climb to. Which was beyond unfortunate. On the TV side, the race scored a Nielsen rating of 1.28 and 2.203 million viewers while the 2022 All-Star Race scored 1.38 and 2.481 million viewers. So a drop. But why? Well, It did start just before 8pm on Sunday night. I'm sure that didn't help, but it is a TV spot that does work very well for other sports such as the NFL. The event did not sell out the 30,000 seats, meanwhile the following week's Coke 600 at Charlotte sold out a much larger capacity in it's grandstands as well as infield earlier in the week. So why did they not sell out the most hyped up event in the last couple decades? Why were the TV numbers lower? Kyle Larson dominates the evening with a fantastic showing from 23XI Racing.  Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, celebrates with the one million dollar check in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway on May 21, 2023 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) Via Media.NASCAR Kyle Larson put on a clinic and, in his own words, a "good old fashioned ass whoopin'" leading 145 of 200 of the evenings circuits. TrackHouse Racing's Daniel Suarez led the first 55 laps of the event early after starting on Pole making him the only other driver to lead laps.
On lap 18, Kyle Larson was caught speeding on pit road where he then had to proceed to the tail end of the field. This would start the impressive run for the 5 as he would drive straight through traffic to the lead by lap 55. Larson has now won the 2021 All-Star Race as well as the 2019 All-Star Race making him the only driver in history to win the event at 3 different tracks. (Charlotte, Texas, North Wilkesboro) The Top-5 of the event
By: Tom Luttermoser Bubba Wallace is at it again.  Fox broadcast screenshot for driver intros Bubba Wallace is without question one of the Top-5 most polarizing drivers in the sport and potentially of all time. Love him or hate him you cannot go to any social media and get away from seeing his face, his #23 or read his name while scrolling any NASCAR groups. Yesterday's All-Star race at North Wilkesboro had only 2 cars that could truly get through traffic and run away. Eventual winner Kyle Larson in his #5 Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet and Bubba Wallace in his #23 Columbia Toyota. Larson put on one of the greatest "Good old fashioned ass whoopin's" in years, leaving only 12 of the 24 entries on the lead lap. This was also his 3rd Million dollar win at the All-Star Race. Wallace's runner up finish was his best finish at an All-Star race. The pair drove through traffic and easily held off the rest of the field while driving through lap cars as well as on restarts. All of this unfortunately was overshadowed by a series of unfortunate instances post race. First, fans booed Wallace HARD during driver intros to which he responded with mocking their cries. This managed to piss off some fans on social media for about 3 hours. Next, some "fans" managed to infiltrate the radio of the #23 post-race, proceeding to tell Wallace to "Go back where you came from" and calling him an asshole. Per 23XI Racing, Wallace had his helmet removed at this point and did not hear them. This was followed up by the Bird.... Juuuuust as FOX's Jamie Little began her interview, Wallace is seen subtly flipping his middle finger to an unknown person or persons behind the FOX team. NASCAR confirmed later Monday afternoon that he was gesturing to a friend. The finger seen 'round the NASCAR world took center stage over a racetracks' revival, a pure ass whooping and a fantastic run by the 23XI cars. This just goes to show you that some fans care more about drama than racing. By: Tom Luttermoser  Broadcast screenshot 5/21 Kyle Larson brings the #7 Silverado to the green white checkered flag at North Wilkesboro.  Kyle Larson in his Spire Motorsports Silverado. Image: Spire Motorsports Twitter Stage 2 Top-10
Overall Stage Points
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