Elliott’s eighth top-10
Chase Elliott earned his eighth top-10 finish of the 2017 season in his third career NASCAR Cup Series start at Pocono this past weekend.
Elliott finished eighth, leading his Hendrick Motorsports teammates to the checkered flag. After rolling off the grid 25th, Elliott progressed through the field and was happy with the way his No. 24 SunEnergy1 Chevy ran.
“I was pleased with how our car drove all day long,” Elliott said. “I didn’t ask for any adjustments much – I thought it was pretty close.”
The driver credited his top-10 finish to his team’s on-track and pit road strategy. Still, he is looking for even better finishes going forward.
“We just kind of need things to go our way,” Elliott explained. “The way the cautions fell and the way the guys played their strategy was really smart there. We just got a little too far behind.”
Issues force early endings
Meanwhile, Elliott’s three Hendrick Motorsports teammates saw their runs come to a close prior to the checkered flag.
Brake issues forced an early end to teammates Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne’s days at Pocono.
With five laps to go in Stage 2, brake-related issues caused Johnson to make contact with the wall. He was running seventh after starting 19th.
“I can only speculate that I got the brakes too hot,” Johnson explained. “When I went to the brakes they just traveled straight to the floor. I didn’t even have a pedal to push on. At that point, I threw it in third gear and I was just trying to slow it down.”
Kahne’s day ended a little later in the race. In the final stage with 19 laps to go, brake issues turned the No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet SS toward the wall.
“I was going down the front stretch about halfway and the right-front popped,” Kahne said. “I had been fighting serious brake problem for a while. So I’m guessing it had something to do with that.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s day ended early as well when he experienced transmission issues early in Stage 2.
“Really, really happy with the car. Wasn’t really running that hard backing up the corners big time and just cruising forward, really happy,” Earnhardt said. “It’s just my fault.”