Chase Elliott has a lot of work ahead of him after a disappointing run in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff opener at Darlington Raceway. Elliott started 21st and never made much progress, finishing 17th.
The 2020 Cup champion made contact multiple times with Carson Hocevar, had an issue on pit road and at one point, went a lap down. As Elliott described it, it was a “really long night” at The Lady in Black.
“It was a really long night,” Elliott told NBC Sports after the race. “Yeah, we had clawed our way up to the top 10 and tried to run really long on that one run. Everyone was being real aggressive with short-pitting so we tried to run long. And then yeah, as soon as we did that, the caution came out. It was honestly laughable at that juncture. Just came in and had an issue on pit road, had to put our heads down and grind out a top last. Just keep pushing at it.
“It’s been a long night for sure. We’ve got to put our heads together to try to figure out how to be better at Gateway and how to go faster.”
Chase Elliott did not have a good night at Darlington
Elliott’s frustration was evident throughout this one. At one point in Stage 3, his frustration boiled over on his radio.
“F*ck me, man. Sorry,” Elliott told his team, via Jeff Gluck of The Athletic. “… I’m sorry. I suck. Killed the back end.”
Across the board, Hendrick Motorsports was off at Darlington. Alex Bowman had several issues and finished 31st, while Kyle Larson and William Byron finished 19th and 21st, respectively.
Elliott slipped to 11th in the playoff standings, just nine points above the cutline. The good news for Elliott is that there are two more opportunities to perform in the Round of 16. Next Sunday is 300 miles at Gateway. How confident is Elliott heading into Gateway?
“Well, we just finished 17th,” Elliott said. “So, you tell me.”
