Chase Elliott was yards away from capturing his first DAYTONA 500 win. (Photo: Gavin Baker | Nigel Kinrade Photography)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Chase Elliott came up just short of winning his first Daytona 500 after nearly surviving not just a wild race, but a chaotic final lap at Daytona International Speedway.
After Carson Hocevar went around off the nose of Erik Jones heading into Turn 1, Elliott found himself leading the top lane onto the back straightaway, and with help from Zane Smith behind, pulled out to a big lead.
“We ended up kind of getting gifted the lead,” Elliott said. “The (No.) 38 (Smith) and I had got out by ourselves down the back (stretch).”
That lead lasted all the way until around the entrance to pit road, as Tyler Reddick got a huge run after receiving a push from 23XI Racing teammate Riley Herbst, and made a move to the inside of Elliott for the lead. As Reddick started to get past Elliott for position, Herbst made a late move to the top lane, cutting off Brad Keselowski, pinballing off of the No. 6 back down into Elliott.
This turned Elliott’s No. 9 car head-on into the wall, and he crossed the start/finish line backwards to score a fourth-place finish as Reddick claimed the 68th running of the Daytona 500.
“I appreciate all the effort. I thought we had a good Speedweek down here,” said Elliott. “Obviously, it just really sucks to be that close and come off Turn 4 with the lead and not finish it off. That’s part of this event, and unfortunately, we were on the bad end of it today.”
Chase Elliott hitting the wall head-on as Tyler Reddick drives from the chaos and carnage to win the 68th DAYTONA 500. (Photo: Rusty Jones | Nigel Kinrade Photography)
The result was Elliott’s third career top 10 in the “Great American Race” and second career top five finish, coming up just shy of his runner-up finish in 2021.
When looking back at the final lap, specifically Turn 3 to the start/finish line, Elliott said he thought both he and Smith had gotten too far out ahead of the rest of the leaders, making them vulnerable as the others were still linked up.
“He had given me a good shove off into (Turn) 3, and then it was kind of just he and I,” he said. “At that point, I just felt momentum shift. Like, there was going to be another run coming behind us there at some point. Unfortunately, that was accurate.”
That then put him in a position drivers find themselves in often, with too big a gap to the cars behind, as well as the decision to throw a huge block in front of the lane with the most head of steam. Elliott said the decision not to attempt a block on Reddick was to try not to wreck himself, ending any chances of victory.
Chase Elliott was in position to win the 68th DAYTONA 500 before last lap shenanigans dropped him to fourth. (Photo: Gavin Baker | Nigel Kinrade Photography)
“Then at that point you’re on defense, and that’s a really tough place to be, truthfully,” he said. “Obviously, you can run it through your head 1,000 times, ‘do you do something different?’ I feel like if I had thrown a double block on the (No.) 45 (Reddick), it probably would’ve just crashed us at that point in time.
Leaving Elliott to hope for one of the drivers behind to get in line behind him and push, but he was taken out before any chances of that happened.
“I feel like you kind of had to pick your battles,” Elliott said. “I thought maybe somebody would pick me up on the top and you might have one more run to the line, but unfortunately, ended up getting turned around.”
As the NASCAR Cup Series has returned to the “Chase” style format for crowning a champion in 2026, a top-five at Daytona is a good way for Elliott to start his search for his second Cup Series crown heading into EchoPark Speedway for next week’s event.
