Who will replace the suspended Chase Elliott in the next NASCAR race?

Chase Elliott has been suspended. This weekend's NASCAR Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway will feature Corey LaJoie at the wheel of the No. 9 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, the team announced on Tuesday (May 30).

For Sunday (June 4)'s Enjoy Illinois 300, LaJoie takes Chase Elliott's position. After purposefully damaging Denny Hamlin in Monday (May 29)'s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Elliott was suspended by NASCAR on Tuesday.

LaJoie, who only races the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, is now 20th in the standings and has only had one top-five result this year, a fourth-place showing at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

With a 19.1 average finish through 14 races and the potential to surpass his previous record of 24.3 by more than five spots per race, LaJoie is enjoying a career year in 2023. LaJoie's replacement in the No. 7 Chevrolet at Gateway will be Carson Hocevar.

LaJoie is the No. 9 Chevrolet's fourth driver this year. The vehicle has finished second twice this year, once with Elliott at Auto Club Speedway in February and once with Josh Berry at Richmond Raceway in April.

Chase Elliott missed six races earlier this season due to a fractured leg he sustained in a March snowboarding accident. Jordan Taylor drove his car to a 24th-place finish at Circuit of The Americas while Berry participated in the five oval races Elliott was unable to attend.

At Atlanta in July 2022, LaJoie came the closest to winning when his No. 7 car was in second place on the last lap. Race leader Elliott, who eventually won the competition, stopped his attempt to go to the outside. On June 11 at Sonoma Raceway, Elliott is scheduled to make a comeback in the No. 9 Chevrolet.

---

Chase Elliott reacts after his crash with Denny Hamlin

Following their collision on Lap 186 of the Coca-Cola race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin are both out of the car.

Shortly after Hamlin suggested that he should be punished, Elliott gave his account of the events, calling the circumstances "unfortunate."

"our pit stops were really good. We had some pretty good fortune to get up towards the front, so, it was just — trying to get to mile 600 and have a shot. Unfortunately, we failed to do that again," Elliott said.

Denny Hamlin wanted to fight the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion after Chase Elliott purposefully ditched him during the Coca-Cola 600 on Monday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. NASCAR decided to suspend Elliot for a race period.