Chase Elliott returned a piece of paper with secret team information from 23XI Racing
Over the weekend, NASCAR returned to the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It marked the first race on the oval since 2020.
Every Team is chasing tenths of a second over their competition. Thus, team information is highly guarded.
Around practice and qualifying, there was an interesting exchange on pit lane between Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin. Elliott was walking down the pit lane when he saw a piece of paper on the ground.
A quick look, it was team information for 23XI Racing. Elliott only briefly looked it in then walked it straight to team co-owner Denny Hamlin, holding the piece of paper far away from his own eyes the whole time.
Watch the Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin video below.
Denny Hamlin comments:
“Man, a stand up guy,” Denny Hamlin told NBC Sports.
“I guess one of the 23XI guys dropped a piece of paper out of their back pocket that had some information on it. He handed it to me, to give to those guys.”
Indianapolis Results: July 21, 2024 (NASCAR Cup Series)
Denny Hamlin comments on what was on the piece of paper
“A bunch of words and numbers,” Hamlin stated via the Actions Detrimental podcast,”
“He could’ve put it right there in his pocket, and handed it to his crew chief and engineers, and said, ‘Here’s what the No. 45 is doing.’ “
“It was the car chief’s notepad. It had pages. I heard they were giving him s— in the hauler about dropping it.”
“You would hate to take something and then it would turn out to be, like, useless. Then you would feel bad, and you’re like, ‘F—, I should’ve just given this to him.’ “
“But, I mean, listen, it was enough stuff to where I was like, I don’t know. I don’t truly know what it means. He likely wouldn’t know what it means, but somebody would know what it means.”
“Like, it’s not, it wasn’t our setup, like our setups on there. It’s just like, you know, probably practice adjustments or something like that, I don’t know.”
“Chase was like, trying to identify who it came from. And then he saw the No. 45 guys running towards the car after their qualifying lap. So, I think he just saw me, and he was like, there’s the closest 23XI person that I know.”
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Links
Chase Elliott | Denny Hamlin | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | NASCAR
