Chase Elliott was left to rue his decision to take the top lane on a restart in Stage 2 of the Bass Prop Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway
Elliott’s No.9 car lost several spots(Image: Getty)
Chase Elliott was left ruing his choice to take the top lane during a restart in Stage 2 of the Bass Prop Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Elliott, who recently shared his candid thoughts with NASCAR about a proposed playoff format change, began the race well-positioned in the playoffs and appeared set to secure his place in the Round of 12.
Nevertheless, he was missing a crucial team member for the second consecutive race. The Bristol race was also announcer Rob Albright’s final race before retirement as he was honored before racing got underway.
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The No. 9 machine began the race in 16th and finished 22nd in the opening stage.
But following a restart late in the second stage on lap 156, Elliott dropped numerous positions and plummeted to 30th place, becoming the final car on the lead lap, one behind the frontrunners, after running into trouble.
Chase Elliott made a mistake in the Bristol Night Race(Image: Getty)
He immediately recognized his mistake in selecting his restart position as he radioed his crew: “Should never have chosen the top”, reports the Express US.
Elliott battled back to climb to 27th before unexpectedly pitting on lap 187 to begin the pit cycle before Stage 2 concluded.
Speaking over his radio earlier in the event, Elliott voiced his amazement at the severe tire degradation, which led NASCAR to grant teams an additional set of tires during the race.
“Man this is wild,” he said. “Nobody saw that coming.”
It turned out to be a dramatic evening for Josh Berry, whose night and playoff aspirations went up in smoke – quite literally – when his vehicle caught fire. “Not very well,” Berry responded when asked about his visibility inside the car during his post-race interview.
“Definitely started smoking a few laps before. We pitted and we tried to ride it out a couple laps, and it was getting pretty bad there. Man, just so disappointing.
“That was gonna be a lot of fun, he continued. ” he continued. “That was right in our wheelhouse. We were moving forward. I think that’s why we were trying to stick it out as long as we could, because that could have been our opportunity. Man, it’s been a tough couple of weeks.
“Definitely not the way we wanted this first round to go. We felt like we executed well, just didn’t have the finishes. This is gonna be a tough one to watch. That was gonna be a lot of fun.”