Nobody was safe at Daytona International Speedway as the NASCAR Cup Series ran the 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400. There were several wrecks throughout the regular season’s penultimate event collecting drivers all over the place. Chase Elliott was one of them.
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His race was compromised on lap 60 when the #9 Chevrolet was caught in a big wreck. The 2020 Cup Series champion was running fairly well up to that point and looked to have a good points finish. All that went up in smoke and he might now be too far behind to win the regular season championship.
Elliott went into the race sitting in second place on the regular season championship table, only a few points behind leader Tyler Reddick. Now, with just one race remaining, he sits in third place, 18 points behind the top spot.
.@chaseelliott elaborates on what he saw in the big wreck that ended his night.
He also talks about what this may do to his regular season standing with one race remaining in the regular season. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/1DVyjt0qRr
— Noah Lewis (@Noah_Lewis1) August 25, 2024
That is not an impossible points tally to make up but it sure will be an uphill battle. The rest of his teammates were also involved in crashes but the #9 driver was the one who seemed to have been impacted the most.
“I was just trying to get slowed down and then hope nobody hit me from behind and unfortunately, neither one of those things happened. So, just a bummer, hate it. We were really just riding, I think everybody was just trying to get to the stage (end) and put yourself in a good position for that pit stop,” he told the media.
William Byron, like his teammate Elliott, also was involved in a wreck and had to retire from the race. Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman were able to reach the start/finish line in P21 and P16 respectively. Not a good day at the office for the most successful team in the history of NASCAR. They will hope to bounce back in Darlington next weekend.
Daytona delivers another surprise winner
While it was a disappointing day for Hendrick Motorsports, there was unparalleled joy for Wood Brothers Racing. Not one person expected Harrison Burton of all people to step up and deliver a race victory to the age-old racing outfit.
It put him in the playoffs, something that even he might not have expected. Wood Brothers Racing has been around for a long time in NASCAR and it will be fantastic to see their car have a chance to compete for the title in the playoffs. Burton’s win also sealed the team’s historic 100th Cup Series victory as well.
“I wanted to do everything I could for the Wood Brothers. They’ve given me an amazing opportunity in life. To get them 100 (wins) on my way out … it’s amazing. We’re in the playoffs now. It’s amazing. It’s been the hardest three years of my life. Obviously the hardest three years for some of these guys’ lives,” he told the media after the race.
There are now only three places left in the playoffs and five drivers fighting for them. That 16th spot will be to die for at Darlington Raceway next weekend. At one of the toughest tracks in the sport, drivers will have to use all of their skills and experience to scrape their way into the postseason.
