Elliott given Pocono win after Hamlin, Busch DQ’d
NASCAR stripped Denny Hamlin of his win at Pocono Raceway when his No. 11 Toyota failed inspection and was disqualified, awarding Chase Elliott the Cup Series victory.
Joe Gibbs Racing had Hamlin’s car and runner-up Kyle Busch’s No. 18 Toyota both disqualified. Hamlin lost his record seventh victory at Pocono and his third win of the season. Busch led a race-high 63 laps.
The penalties can be appealed and both Toyotas were sent to NASCAR’s research and development center in North Carolina for further evaluation.
“There was some issues discovered that affect aero in the vehicle,” NASCAR Cup Series managing director Brad Moran said. “There really was no reason why there was some material that was somewhere it shouldn’t have been. And that does basically come down to a DQ.”
Moran said the parts in question were the front fascia — the nose cone — and final decisions “should be sorted out by next week.”
Elliott, who had finished third, was given his fourth win of the season. He never led a lap.
Hamlin had seemingly won for the third time this season and passed Hall of Fame driver Jeff Gordon for most wins at Pocono with seven. Now, he remains tied with the four-time NASCAR champion.
• Pato O’Ward pounced on Josef Newgarden’s misfortune to win the second race of the IndyCar Iowa Speedway doubleheader.
Newgarden led 148 of the 300 laps while trying to sweep the weekend. But something on his Team Penske car broke with 64 laps left and he spun hard into the wall.
O’Ward actually made a pass for the win on pit road with a speedy stop by his Arrow McLaren SP team and held off Penske teammates Will Power and Scott McLaughlin. It’s the second win of the season for the Mexican driver, who finished second on Saturday.
• Max Verstappen won the French Grand Prix after Charles Leclerc crashed out while leading, a mistake that dropped the Ferrari driver 63 points behind the defending Formula One champion.
Verstappen’s seventh win through 12 races this season upped his career total to 27, all with Red Bull.
Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton finished second in his 300th grand prix — his fourth consecutive podium and highest finish in a winless season.
• Brittany Force raced to her fourth Top Fuel win of the season and 15th overall in the NHRA Sonoma Nationals. Force had a 3.709-second run at 335.48mph to beat Mike Salinas in the final round and move ahead of him for the season lead. She set the track speed record on three consecutive runs, capped by a 337.75 in the semifinals.