HAMPTON, Ga. – As he prepares to take on his hometown track of Atlanta Motor Speedway, Chase Elliott relived a Daytona 500 that he nearly won last weekend.
“We had such a great car down there and a great start to the week, a great Thursday night,” he said. “That was a devastating way to end a good week, for sure.”
But that’s not what Elliott has taken away from a race that saw him lose the lead with less than three laps remaining.
Rather, there are two main items he pointed to Friday morning in the Atlanta Motor Speedway media center.
“A – we had to play the cards we were dealt. I felt like we planned to the best of our ability. I think that is something to be proud of. And B – we ran out of gas,” Elliott said.
“We were faced with circumstances that we really couldn’t control and I felt like we played what we had the best we could,” he continued. “Some days, that is all you can do.”
In a race that saw many competitors involved in multiple-car incidents – including Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. – Elliott noted that it was a feat in and of itself to take the checkered flag, particularly after not doing so in his first shot at the Daytona 500 last season.
“I think that was a big thing – it’s just so hard to survive that race and just to make it to the end,” he said. “We were fortunate enough to get there and I think that is the biggest thing, we made it to the end. Just not in the right manner.”
And the driver of the No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet SS knows that his time will come. His father, NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, has reminded him that it took him a lot of near-wins before he finally found Victory Lane for the first time. By the end of his career, he had 44 NASCAR Cup Series wins, which currently rank 16th all-time.
“It kind of just goes to show you if it’s not your day, it’s not your day,” Chase Elliott said of his father’s advice. “As well as they ran, for him to not have a win until he did there at Riverside. Like I said, I guess whenever it’s meant to be our day, it will be.”