Despite the odds, Chase Elliott salvaged something from the race at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International by finishing second in the race.
The 2020 champion was a heavy favourite to win the race, having won the last two races there. But before the race, the engine of his car failed pre-race inspection twice, and NASCAR confiscated several parts from the car. Despite passing in the third try, Elliott had too much damage to cover. Crew chief Alan Gustafson, was taken off from the track and the team was penalized with a deduction of 10 driver and owner points along with a $25,000 fine.
Despite all the odds against him, Elliott managed to finish second in the race, behind Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson.
“I made too many mistakes to get the win, unfortunately, and made it too late in the race,” Elliott said. “Super-proud of our team.
“Been kind of an uphill battle all day, but everybody was just super prepared coming into the day, and our NAPA team just did a really good job of fighting it.”
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A win would have tied him with Tony Stewart as the second-most wins in road courses. Nonetheless, just 25 years of age, Elliott has a lot of time to break that record.
“If I hadn’t have let them down there, I think we would have had a shot at it, but congrats to Kyle, Cliff (Daniels, Larson’s crew chief), all the guys on the No. 5 team,” Larson said. “Happy for everybody at HMS.
“Hendrick Motorsports has been working extremely hard, and not only do the people deserve to win, but Mr. (Rick) Hendrick deserves to win. Really happy for him, and I’ll try to clean some things up and make less mistakes next time.
“Maybe it’ll work out.”