The lap 1 incident at COTA impacted a lot of drivers, including Chase Elliott, who bore the brunt of Ross Chastain’s aggressive maneuver. While Elliott maintained his composure and refrained from any reactionary measures that could further compromise his race. While his crew chief, Alan Gustafson, vented his ire over the team radio, vowing retribution against Chastain, Elliott was more concerned with ensuring his actions hadn’t contributed to the mishap, a stance that earned Denny Hamlin’s admiration.
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On his podcast episode, the #11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver praised Elliott’s equanimity in the face of conflict, remarking, “You heard Chase Elliott, what did Chase say… During the race, he was on the radio. He was like, ‘yeah I’ll get his a** but just make sure that I didn’t do anything wrong first.’ I mean, talk about being levelheaded. I mean, that is such a Chase response, too.”
Hamlin continued, “Anytime there’s an incident Chase is in I give him so much credit because he goes out there and he says ‘Okay I’m about to lose my sh*t but before I lose my sh*t, can you just analyze and make sure I didn’t do anything wrong first before I go out here make a fool of myself?'”
In fact, following the rough start, Elliott mounted a great recovery over the subsequent 94 laps, achieving a respectable finish. Throughout the race, the #9 team grappled with a persistent toe link issue, and Elliott lingered outside the top 20 for the bulk of the initial two stages. It wasn’t until the final stage that he found his rhythm. In the last 13 laps, he surged from P23 to P4 place.
Nevertheless, had Chastain not catalyzed the early disruption, Elliott might well have won his eighth road course victory. Chastain, on the other hand, crossed the finish line in P12 place.
During his post-race dialogue with PRN, Elliott reaffirmed his commitment to accountability, stating, “Got run over in the first corner. I’m curious to see it, I still haven’t seen it, to know whether or not I did something wrong. Happy to own it, but it was the first corner of the first lap,” while Chastain chose to remain silent about the event.
However, Chastain might need to reflect on his own actions and reactions to such incidents, noting his dissatisfaction with Carson Hocevar’s aggressive racing style at Atlanta. Should Ross exhibit similar behavior [as he did at COTA], the Trackhouse Racing driver is unlikely to find any clemency among his peers.
