(Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Chase Elliott blew a tire and made an early exit in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway, taking a hit to his playoff hopes.
Elliott entered the FireKeepers Casino 400 at 20th in points and 40 points below the cutline, hopeful to either narrow that deficit or win his way into the playoffs. But while racing behind the Trackhouse Racing cars on Lap 36, Elliott unexpectedly blew a right-rear tire and backed his No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro into the outside wall.
Elliott limped his battered Hendrick Motorsports machine back to pit road with heavy rear-end damage and drove it straight to the garage. He said that he had no indication of the tire going down, although he remained on old tires from the initial start when many of his competitors pitted for fresh Goodyears during a previous caution.
“I hate that it happened,” Elliott said at the infield care center. “It was really early in the day to have a tire blow like that. It was really weird. It’s a bummer, but not surprised.
“Obviously we stayed out, but no I didn’t even feel like I was being hard on it.”
(Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
If Elliott had a pathway to point his way in before, that opportunity has been slammed shut. Elliott is expected to finish 36th in the race, which got postponed to Monday afternoon after 74 laps because of rain.
However, as Elliott has said all along, he expects to have to win his way into the playoffs. The Dawsonville, Georgia native has missed seven races this season — six for injury and one for suspension. Elliott fractured his tibia in a snowboarding accident in March and got sidelined from Las Vegas to Bristol Dirt.
At Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, Denny Hamlin ran Elliott up into the wall and Elliott responded by intentionally wrecking Hamlin. NASCAR suspended him for the next event at WWT Raceway.
“My stance has been the same since I got back — I think we need to win,” Elliott said in a press conference on Saturday. “I think gaining a lot of points and contending for wins is very much one and the same. It’s not a coincidence that the guys that are high up in points have race wins, but they are also leading the regular season thing, or whatever it’s called, too. Those things go hand in hand. If you are gaining a lot of points, you are probably going to have a shot to win. And if you are not, then you are probably not going to have a shot to win.”
Elliott will have three more chances to deliver before the regular season reaches its conclusion. The next two races — Indianapolis and Watkins Glen — are road courses, which are strengths of Elliott. Seven of his 18 Cup Series wins have come on road courses, including wins at The Glen in 2018 and 2019.
