Chase Elliott guided his No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro to a runner-up finish in the Cup Series race at Las Vegas on Sunday. For many drivers in the field, that kind of result would be more than welcome. Elliott had every reason to be pleased with his performance, but he did not appear that way when speaking to the press after the race. Veteran crew chief Steve Letarte took notice of it.
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Letarte and Kyle Petty were on NASCAR’s Inside The Race segment when Elliott’s dissatisfaction came to light. Letarte explained that his feelings were connected to high ambitions.
He said, “Chase Elliott’s interview was the best interview of the day for me. It was like cold water on my face. He wanted to say the second place was good. And he wanted to be excited about scoring points.”
“He is like, ‘Man, we haven’t run well enough.’ He wants to win! I think Chase Elliott fans out there should cheer that he was so conflicted in his interview,” Letarte added.
Chase Elliott finished P2 today…and he was so conflicted on how to feel about it.
Inside The Race: https://t.co/hXvK3h2DNk pic.twitter.com/KGiUGfQpT5
— Steve Letarte (@SteveLetarte) March 16, 2026
This is what any fan wants to see from their favorite driver. The yearning to be the best in the field. Elliott’s countless admirers will certainly be proud of him.
But by no means was Elliott‘s performance average. He started from 15th place and traveled to the front of the field by the end of the race. That’s a serious display of skill on a track like Vegas. If he had a few more laps at his disposal, he might very well have overtaken Hamlin and seized the day for himself. But within half a second of a win was the best he could do with what he had.
What did Elliott say in his post-race interview?
Mixed feelings ran high when the mic was put in front of the No. 9 driver. He said, “It was definitely better there towards the end than it had started the run. I thought there might be an opportunity. 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.”
Elliott wanted to focus more on how much better he and his team performed than they had been doing in recent weeks. He also expressed his confidence and pride in his crew. The back and forth of emotions in his words reflected the internal debate in his mind very clearly. Hopefully, he will be more satisfied at the end of next Sunday’s race at Darlington.
