Chase Elliott's NASCAR spotter suspended after arrest
The spotter for reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott was indefinitely suspended by the series and his team, Hendrick Motorsports, on Wednesday.
Elliott’s spotter, Eddie D’Hondt, was arrested on 12 May in Catawba County, North Carolina, after he was served a warrant and charged with two misdemeanour offences: battery of an unborn child and assault of a female.
It remains unclear at this time whether the cases connected to the original arrest of D’Hondt, 62, are still ongoing.
NASCAR officials said that D’Hondt is suspected of violating sections of its rulebook by failing to report his arrest on a criminal charge within 72 hours and he has therefore been suspended.
Hendrick Motorsports has also carried out similar action and issued the following statement on Wednesday morning: “We became aware of the situation this morning and have immediately and indefinitely suspended Mr D’Hondt’s role with our company.
"We are taking this matter very seriously and will continue to seek additional information about the alleged incident.”
HMS said a replacement spotter for Elliott for this weekend’s NASCAR event at Charlotte Motor Speedway has yet to be determined.
D'Hondt has acted as a spotter for Elliott ever since he made his full-time NASCAR Cup debut in 2016.
During that time, Elliott has taken 12 wins, culminating in winning last season's crown.
He sits fifth in this year's standings after the opening 14 races, having won at the Circuit of the Americas last weekend and has also taken three other podiums.
D'Hondt also acts as a spotter in the NASCAR Xfinity and Trucks categories.
Prior to working alongside Elliott, he had been a spotter for a number of other drivers, including former champions Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch.
He began his career in NASCAR in 1981 driving Street Stocks machines and progressed to a number of different roles, including managing and owning teams.
D'Hondt teamed up with Bill and Bob Riley to form Riley-D'Hondt Motorsports for 2007 but the team only contested one Cup event that year and the partnership proved shortlived.
The team also made a single outing with Busch as driver in 2008.
D'Hondt then had a brief spell working with Randy Humphrey in 2010 to field two entries, before later becoming a full-time spotter with Hendrick.
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