“Was Even More Impressive”: Chase Elliott Fans Unite, Hail Hendrick Driver for Stellar Recovery After Ross Chastain Episode

Crashes, wrecks, bumping, and drafting are all par for the course on NASCAR tracks. However, the aggressive driving style is not universally cherished among drivers, as they typically refrain from actions they aren’t prepared to handle in return. Nevertheless, drivers such as Ross Chastain and Carson Hocevar have repeatedly stirred confrontations with NASCAR’s elites, like Chase Elliott.

Yet, the #9 driver’s decision not to respond in kind to Chastain’s provocations at COTA ultimately paid off, leading to a top-5 finish, which has garnered considerable support from fans for the HMS driver.

After enduring a crash caused by the Trackhouse Racing driver on the first lap from a promising P3 start, Elliott fell back due to a persistent toe link issue, relegating him outside the top 20 for the majority of the race. Yet, despite these challenges, the final lap proved to be his most crowning achievement, where he showed his skill under pressure.

According to the latest figures from NASCAR Insights, shared on their official X handle, Elliott showed exceptional pace from laps 91 to 95, consistently outperforming the leaders in lap times.

For instance, when Christopher Bell seized the lead from Kyle Busch at Turn 1 on lap 91, Elliott, who was running P8 at that time, clocked a lap time of 1:42:103, surpassing the leader Bell’s lap time of 1:43:149.

In fact, Elliott reduced the gap by clocking faster lap times by 9.551, 9.321, 7.369, 5.801, and 5.274 seconds, respectively, in the last five laps, climbing four positions to ultimately finish in fourth place.

The surge suggested that had the race extended to 100 laps, the #9 HMS driver could have potentially challenged Bell for the victory at COTA, giving him a serious run for his money.

Fans impressed by Elliott’s racing stats stated, “I was saying this after Sunday! Great battle for the checkered flag no doubt but what the No 9 did was even more impressive in my opinion,” while another fan unbelievably commented.

“I mean… Was 23rd on the last restart. Damn impressive, tire advantage or not,” highlighting that in the final 13 laps, Elliott raced from 23rd to fourth to become one of the best-performing drivers on Sunday.

One predicted, “He just needed a few more laps, and he could have possibly won the race,” while another blamed Chastain for ruining Chastain’s chances of winning at COTA, asserting, “Probably had a good chance at winning if it wasn’t for watermelon man. .”

Elliott earns praises from his on-track enemy, Denny Hamlin

Following a first-lap skirmish triggered by Ross, Chase displayed unusual control, avoiding any impulsive actions that might have further jeopardized his race. Meanwhile, his crew chief, Alan Gustafson, could not contain his frustration and expressed his determination over the team radio to seek vengeance against Chastain. Yet, the #9 HMS driver prioritized a review of his own role in the incident, an approach that garnered respect from Denny Hamlin.

During an episode of his podcast, the #11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver lauded Elliott’s composure under pressure, commenting, “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.”

He also praised Elliott’s cool demeanor, adding, “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?’”

However, it remains to be seen whether, over the course of the season, Chastain might find himself on the receiving end of retribution from the #9 driver.