“Chase Elliott, You Need to Go Back”: NASCAR Fans Slam Hendrick Motorsports Star for Promotion Event Amid On-Track Struggles

Hendrick Cars driver Chase Elliott on pit road during the Great Clips 200 at Darlington Raceway.

Chase Elliott is not NASCAR’s most popular star after yet another mediocre showing at the Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday. He finished 15th in the #9 Hendrick Motorsports Camaro ZL1 and sits fifth on the points table.

Frustrated by his inability to perform at a better level, fans on social media criticized him as he distributed MLB tickets to fans around Bristol. The Speedway Classic is set to be held on August 2 this year.

It is a highly anticipated event, considering that it is the first time that the Bristol Motor Speedway is hosting the MLB. The track had given free tickets to Elliott, and he, in turn, chose to give them away to his fans.

He posted a video of himself driving his cart around spotting fan camps for the same on Twitter.

The online community wasn’t pleased with this extracurricular activity after the latest result. One fan responded, “Chase, you need to go back down to the Xfinity Series. When you get it figured out and start winning or place a Top 5, then come back up to the top level. If it’s not you, then it’s your crew chief.” 

Elliott has just two top-5 finishes in the first nine races of the season. No wonder his fans are disappointed. Another wrote, “Your fans would like to see you win instead of running mid-pack all day.” 

His teammate Kyle Larson led 411 of 500 laps and ended up in Victory Lane. This dominance was something that caused frustration in every camp but Larson’s.

This was reflected by a comment that went, “The race was terrible. You all have to make changes.” Not having a single win or a top-3 finish after nine races is not something you expect from a driver of Elliott’s caliber. Hopefully, he will bounce back sooner rather than later.

Elliott goes through life as the odd one out at Hendrick Motorsports

The Sunday before the Bristol race, William Byron had led 243 laps consecutively at Darlington. In Bristol, Alex Bowman led the first 39 laps starting from pole position.

On Lap 40, Larson picked up and went on to dominate the day. To sum it up, Hendrick Motorsports drivers have led 593 of 647 laps in the last two races, which is an extraordinary 91.65%.

The only driver who didn’t contribute to this achievement was Elliott. He has been unable to get his Camaro up front and complained about Bubba Wallace ‘mirror driving’ him in Bristol.

He claimed on his radio that the 23XI Racing was stopping him from overtaking and that he was a repeat offender. But the officials saw no lines broken.

This underperformance from him is turning out to be embarrassing. It has to be overcome at some point. He will race next at the Talladega Superspeedway after the Easter break.

Post Edited By: Rahul Ahluwalia
Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series

About the author

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Gowtham Ramalingam

Gowtham is a NASCAR journalist at The SportsRush. Though his affinity for racing stems from Formula 1, he found himself drawn to NASCAR's unparalleled excitement over the years. As a result he has shared his insights and observations by authoring over 3000 articles on the sport. An avid fiction writer, you can find him lost in imaginary worlds when he is not immersed in racing. He hopes to continue savoring the thrill of every lap and race together with his readers for as long as he can.

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