Chase Elliott could use a thesaurus to list all the ways he’s won a race. He could start with “dominant”, then perhaps “cool,” or “wild,” or “crazy,” or even “thrilling.” But after the way he won Sunday’s NASCAR Cup playoff race at Kansas Speedway, Elliott may have to come up with another adjective to describe how he took the checkered flag.
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Elliott literally came from out of nowhere – well, to be exact, he came from 10 spots back – to win in overtime, but he can thank his own peripheral vision for being the key to earning the victory.
The son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott was dutifully watching three cars ahead of him, those of Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, and Christopher Bell. And while those three were watching out for each other, no one was literally paying attention to what Elliott was doing.
And that was to sneak up on the inside, pass the other three when they weren’t looking, and barely make it to the finish line ahead of the guys that many of the fans in the stands or who were watching on TV likely expected to win. Definitely not Elliott.
But that’s how it played out, in one of the oddest finishes – yes, “oddest” is the perfect word to grab from the thesaurus – to describe how he now finds himself a guaranteed spot in the Round of Eight NASCAR Cup playoff semifinals, which start two weeks from now.
“I think the most cool and awesome factor is to just dominate,” Elliott said during his post-race victory press conference. “That’s the best way to put a stamp on a win, in my opinion, just being a competitor.”
Elliott was not dominant in the race, leading just 24 laps, including the final one. Rather, it was Hamlin, who led 159 laps, who indeed was the dominant driver, but because he focused more on Wallace than Elliott, Hamlin wound up a disappointing second place.
“I do think there are days and moments like today that bring a definite level of excitement for everyone,” Elliott said. “Like I didn’t know what was going to happen going into turn three any more than anybody else did.
“I’m excited to go back and watch it, honestly. You live this stuff and you live these moments. Obviously I know what my vantage point was, and I remember the things that I was looking at when I was looking at them, but I don’t have the full picture. So I’m excited to go back and just see what it all looked like. I was making split-second decisions based off the information I had in front of me at that time.”
Another way of describing Elliott’s win, in addition to “oddest”, is perhaps “theft” because he definitely stole the victory away from Hamlin, Bell, Chase Briscoe, Wallace, Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson and seventh-place finisher Tyler Reddick.
“I definitely think there’s a level of excitement to that one that I’m not sure I’ve experienced in the Cup Series to this point,” Elliott said. “I’ve been on the opposing end of some excitement for sure.
“But yeah, I don’t know, at least in my Cup career. I could be wrong on that. I’d have to go back and think about it.
“It was definitely a cool one. Any win, though, is great. I’m not going to complain about it.”
Wait, this might be the best word of all to describe Elliott’s larceny-like win: he “pickpocketed” Hamlin and Wallace when they weren’t looking. And he wound up laughing all the way to the bank afterward.
