NASCAR disqualified Chase Elliott after his car was found to have four lug nuts not secure after Sunday’s race at Nashville Superspeedway.
Elliott finished 13th and scored 38 points. Elliott fell from fifth to 13th in the last 30 laps.
The disqualification drops Elliott to last in the 39-car field and scores one point. He also loses his playoff point for winning the first stage. Kurt Busch is now credited with winning the first stage and gets the playoff point.
“It’s unfortunate,” said Chad Knaus, vice president of competition for Hendrick Motorsports. “The lug nuts on the No. 9 were loose at the end of the race. At the end of the race Chase had a vibration. There were quite a few tire issues through the course of the day so they were hopeful that it was just a cord or something in the tire that was creating the vibration so they chose to run the race out. It’s unfortunate that the lug nuts vibrated loose on the left rear and now we are sitting here with a disqualification for the 9 team.”
Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson won Sunday’s race.