WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Chase Elliott had plenty of time to contemplate his Playoff hopes slipping away after running out of gas just past midway through the Go Bowling at the Glen on Sunday.
The driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet reported his car was “sputtering” just before he stalled across from the bus stop at Watkins Glen on Lap 56.
For the 2020 NASCAR Cup champion, who entered the weekend needing a win to advance to the postseason, it must have felt like an eternity waiting for a tow to pit road.
After his car refired, Elliott finished 32nd, one lap down, and dropped to 21st in the standings, Never before in his Cup career has Elliott been on the outside looking in at the Playoff grid following the penultimate race of the regular season.
But clearly, this isn’t the same Chase Elliott who is accustomed to winning multiple races in a season and setting the pace for the Hendrick juggernaut. Following a skiing accident that sidelined Elliott for six races with a broken leg—compounded by the loss of points for two additional events after taking out Denny Hamlin in the Coca-Cola 600—he has fallen from HMS alpha dog status to third at best.
Watching teammate William Byron seize Sunday’s win likely added salt to the wound.
Despite scoring two wins in six starts at the Glen, Elliott said he didn’t have the race circled as ‘his best shot’ for a victory. Since NASCAR introduced the NextGen car, the 27-year-old racer finished second and fourth on the 2.45-mile course.
Elliott had started from the pole in his previous three Glen starts—until Saturday when he didn’t transfer to the final round in time trials. He appeared frustrated after at 15th-place qualifying effort, knowing he would start from a deficit. Elliott described the result as “unfortunate.”
Fortune was something NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver was lacking in Upstate New York. After finishing second in the Indianapolis Grand Prix last Sunday, hopes were high that Elliott could contend at the Glen. The deepest a driver has come from in the field was 18th when Steve Park won in 2000. In the last six races, the winner has started from the top five.
“It’s no one’s fault but mine that we’re in the spot we’re in,” Elliott said after qualifying.
The weekend didn’t improve. Elliott was on a two-pit-stop strategy, as was most of the field, but crew chief Alan Gustafson called Elliott to pit road early–on Lap 17–when he was running 13th. He cycled back to eighth place on Lap 25—five circuits after the first stage ended, when several of the leaders came in for service.
Elliott was seventh in Stage 2 on Lap 40, but his 23-lap-old tires were fading. Ten laps prior to the team calling him in for the second round of service, Elliott made the team aware of the situation. On Lap 55, as Elliott exited the esses, he reported the car was “sputtering.”
“I’m on (secondary fuel box) two, I’m out of gas,” Elliott radioed to the team as he sat in the bus stop.
NASCAR called the only caution of the race on Lap 57. Elliott dropped to 36th, one lap down, after leaving pit road. Over the next 34 laps, he gained four positions, but there was no way to recover.
Now, Elliott enters Daytona in an absolute must-win position. But on Saturday, even the driver didn’t like his odds.
“Daytona, to show up there and it be a must-win situation is like going to Vegas and having to hit the nearest slot machine for the jackpot,’’ Elliott said. “That’s just silly.”
Silly indeed that the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports ever found themselves in this position.
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
