(Photo: Sam Draiss | The Podium Finish)
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — With five laps to go, Chase Elliott was in prime position at Watkins Glen International. He had one of the best cars all afternoon and lined up with the lead after consecutive cautions.
Leader and teammate Kyle Larson drove deep into Turn 1 and moved him up the track. Elliott dropped back and finished fourth while Larson went on to win his second race of the season.
Understandably, Elliott wasn’t happy about it.
“Just offer congratulations and get excited for next week,” a sarcastic Elliott said.
When asked if he could’ve done anything different on the last restart, Elliott joked, “I’m sure I did. It was my fault.”
Larson responded to the incident after the race.
“I had a good restart. I got in there hot. Did what I had to do to win,” Larson said. “I’m not necessarily proud of it, especially with a teammate, but I feel like I had to execute that way to get the win.
“I think it’s risky taking the left lane here at Watkins Glen. It’s definitely the preferred lane as the leader, but as each restart gets further on in the race, whether it be at the end of the stage or end of the race, you’re putting yourself in a vulnerable position to get used up on exit.
“I’m sure it will warrant some sort of conversation.”
Although the race ended on a sour note for Elliott, it didn’t start that way. He clinched the regular-season title at the end of the first stage based on maximum points over Ryan Blaney.
With the title, he’ll earn an additional 15 stage points to his already impressive total of 25.
“It’s a big deal,” Elliott said. “It gets us to a position that we’ve never been in before. We’d love to keep adding [playoff points]. You know, obviously had an opportunity to add to that today but didn’t.”
Elliott has four wins this season and they’ve all been unique. He won his first race at Dover, an event that was postponed until Monday after 70 laps. He won a month and a half later at Nashville, a race interrupted multiple times by rain.
In July, he returned home to Georgia and finally checked off a victory at Atlanta. Two weeks later, he won at Pocono after disqualifications to Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, the original top-two finishers of the race.
In total, Elliott has 10 top fives, which are tied for most in the series, and 17 top 10s. He’s been one of the few drivers to maintain consistency with the Next Gen car by staying out of trouble and maximizing bad days.
Elliott heads into the playoff opener in two weeks as the championship favorite. When he won the title in 2020, he won three of the last five races to steal the thunder from Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick. This season, the roles are reversed.
“Just keep putting ourselves in position to win,” Elliott said. “If you get to Phoenix, you’re gonna have to win. So just try to keep putting yourself in position to win and enjoy, enjoy those moments, embrace those moments.
“The more we’re in that spot, the better we’re going to thrive in them. And the more we’re going to enjoy them. The more you enjoy it, the better you’re going to do so.”
But before the playoff opener at Darlington, Elliott will have one last opportunity to score playoff points at Daytona.
Elliott’s a capable superspeedway racer. He won at Talladega in 2018 and controlled the race in his aforementioned win at Atlanta.
One more regular-season win could be the boost he needs for a second championship run.
“We had a good run in Atlanta and that was a speedway race,” he said. “I hope we can carry some of that speed to Daytona and have a good run.”
