NASCAR officials ruled that Chase Elliott intentionally crashed Denny Hamlin during Monday’s Coca-Cola 600 and suspended Elliott for one race on Tuesday.

Elliott will not appeal the suspension. He’ll sit out Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill.

Elliott’s team, Hendrick Motorsports, said in a statement that Corey LaJoie will drive the No. 9 Chevrolet instead.

Elliott crashed Hamlin’s car and ended his afternoon Monday by turning left into Hamlin’s back-right quarter panel during Lap 186.

“We take this very seriously,” Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s senior vice president of competition, said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “The incident that happened off Turn 4, after looking at all the available resources … it was an intentional act by Chase, in our opinion, after reviewing all the available resources there.

“In the heat of the battle, things happen, but drivers needs to understand you have to handle that in a completely different way than hooking someone in the right rear and putting them in harm’s way.”

Elliott, 27, was the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion. He previously missed six races earlier this season after he broke his left leg in a snowboarding accident.

–Field Level Media