Chase Elliott came within half a second of the win in the Pennzoil 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, by far his most promising run of the season. Though he never led a lap, Elliott went from 15th and crossed the line just 0.502 seconds behind Denny Hamlin in a race that went down to the wire.
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While Hamlin celebrated his first Victory Lane visit of the season, Elliott was left to replay the closing laps in his mind. He knew that he was within striking distance. The No. 9 Chevrolet driver ran out of road before he could make a move for the lead.
Elliott had kept himself in the mix throughout the race. He wrapped up Stage 1 in eighth place and followed it with a ninth-place finish in Stage 2. As the laps wound down, by Lap 242, he had climbed to second place behind Hamlin. The Hendrick Motorsports driver then began chipping away at the gap.
At one point, Elliott sat around 1.6 seconds behind the No. 11 car. And lap by lap, he reeled Hamlin in until the margin shrank to roughly half a second. However, despite the late charge, Hamlin held on and carried his lead to the checkered flag. After the race, Elliott appreciated how the team kept digging even after a hiccup earlier in the race.
“I just kind of kept fighting before we had one bad pit stop there and fell back in the second stage. And then, yeah, I thought those last couple runs, honestly, we got our balance really good. I thought I fired off well, and our car held on good, too,” said the 2020 Cup Series champion.
“So, obviously, room for improvement, but I thought it was a good start for, you know, this new package for us,” he added.
Elliott also noted that the car came alive in the latter stages of the race, giving him hope that he could close the deal. “It was definitely better there towards the end than [when] we had started the run. I thought there might be an opportunity,” he said.
I knew that he was starting to get tight there at the end of runs. As bummed as I am to come up that close to a win, I have to kind of bring myself back to a reality check, how much better we ran today than we’ve been running,” added Elliott.
“I wish I’d been a little tidier in those closing laps.”@chaseelliott just short of a win at Las Vegas.#NASCAR
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The #9 driver said he could see Hamlin struggling for grip late in the race, while he hugged the line with ease. Elliott believed that the advantage might open the door for a pass, yet he never closed the gap enough to make a move into the corner.
Elliott admitted he wished he had been tidier during the final laps while riding the line near the wall. In the end, the margin between a win and second place proved thin.
