MARTINSVILLE, Va.—Chase Elliott’s 18th-place result at Homestead-Miami Speedway is not indicative of the No. 9 Team Hendrick Chevrolet’s performance at that track.
Elliott had gained nine positions by the end of the second stage of the Straight Talk Wireless 400 but a costly error on Lap 169—and subsequent penalty—erased any advantage the driver and team had gained over the first two stages.
The 29-year-old third-generation racer said the mistake was ultimately his fault. But Elliott learned a valuable lesson last Sunday, and it had nothing to do with being assessed a safety violation for pulling up alongside Austin Cindric entering pit road, rather than running single file under caution.
Elliott was reminded that the weekend begins with qualifying. Where drivers pit and start sets the tone for the entire weekend.
“The cars being closer have put more emphasis on pit road,” Elliott said on Saturday prior to qualifying at Martinsville Speedway. “It has put emphasis on all of the little details. How your Saturday goes. How your pit selection is. You are either setting yourself up right there from the get-go. You are setting yourself up—or your pit crew up—for success or failure here in about an hour.
“Truthfully, I should have qualified better last week. That’s kind of how I look at it because you’re not putting yourself in a position where you’re having to come out around someone, right? Those are all the reasons why you want to have a good qualifying effort on Saturday.”
As for the penalty, Elliott says he doesn’t know whether there’s a fix for the accordion effect that often occurs when 30-plus drivers are attempting to enter pit road at once at varying speeds.
“At the end of the day, they make the rules,” Elliott said of NASCAR. “It’s our job to abide by them and do what we’re supposed to be doing. I guess I was in a gray area because I thought it was ok because I gave what advantage there was back. I made sure I did that. I was very aware of not taking advantage of that situation and was just trying to avoid damage.”
NASCAR is aware of the situation. NASCAR’s Elton Sawyer pointed out that as the leaders accelerate to get to the line without passing the caution vehicle, often that causes the trailing cars to stack up.
Elliott has noticed an increasing trend on pit road—particularly this year—that has resulted in putting drivers in precarious positions.
“I’ve hit some people really hard,” Elliott said. “I think Phoenix was a good example. I hit somebody so hard I was like, ‘Man, you’re going to have to look at the nose. I’m really concerned that I’ve hurt it.’ And all I was trying to do was not leave a huge gap and give up time on pit road.
“As the weeks have gone on, I’m like, ’How can I mitigate not damaging my car early in the race to make sure I’m not doing my team a disservice. In doing that, I ended up busting a rule that was there, and unfortunately, it ended up hurting us more than helping us.”
To add insult to injury, Elliott tagged his buddy Ryan Blaney while exiting his pit. Blaney claimed his car was destroyed, but he was able to continue until his engine failed. Meanwhile, Elliott served his penalty and dropped to the back on the longest line and work his way through traffic over the final 94 laps.
“There’s a lot going on from how fast the pit stops have gotten, the strategy calls that seem like are getting more and more aggressive with putting on two tires, no tires. Some of these pit roads being so narrow and everyone being so close on track, it puts even more emphasis on being perfect on pit road.
“You just can’t afford to give up time. You used to be able to play so much to the conservative side of things—in all those areas. It’s going to come out in the wash. ‘If we’re better, it’s going to come out in the long run.’ That mindset. But those days are gone. You just can’t give up time.”
Elliott heeded his own advice on Saturday. He qualified second for the Cook Out 400—his best effort in a points race of 2025. Christopher Bell will lead the field to green.
As for the performance over the first six races, Elliott feels that he and the No. 9 team have just been “OK.” Despite winning from the pole in Busch Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium,
“I was happy with the first four weeks—if you include the (Busch) Clash,” Elliott said. “I thought we had good pace, honestly all the way up through qualifying at Phoenix (Raceway). I thought it was all really respectable. I didn’t race as well as I expected to at Phoenix, certainly. Las Vegas was decent. I felt we were in an OK place before I sped. That hurt, for sure. I sped at a terrible time in the race—just like my mistake last weekend, too.
“We’re not where we want to be. No doubt, a lot of room for improvement. But there has been some improvement and some high spots in some in some areas that (people) probably won’t see or recognize but we certainly have a process and a plan and a direction we need to go in and we’re going to try and execute that and see where it goes.”
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at [email protected].
