CONCORD, N.C. – Chase Elliott recovered from a mid-race crash on a restart with a masterclass performance racing through the field to score his third win of 2019 and the sixth of his career.
Elliott misjudged the speed he carried into the first left-hand corner of the 2.28-mile road course and collided straight-on with the temporary barrier. He was able to reverse the car and drive away.
Elliott said regarding the contact with the fence, “I definitely at the time thought we were done…if there was ever a notebook of things not to do, that would be No. 1 in that book…I didn’t compensate enough for the faster [restart] pace, it was no one’s fault but mine.”
Team owner Rick Hendrick on the crash, “I thought [Elliott’schance to win] was over, I thought if he came back to the top ten that would be great, but the car was really fast. I thought the car was hurt when he went into the barrier. He got a couple of cautions and got back up there.”
Looking forward to the Round of 12, Elliott commented, “It’s nice to have an extra six points going into the next round. We’ll start our prep for Dover on Tuesday.”
While Chase Elliott experienced the highs of victory and advancing, Aric Almirola, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, and Erik Jones were eliminated from championship contention following the event.
Alex Bowman, who battled heat exhaustion during the latter stages of the event, was on the cutline for the majority of the race. Although he tangled with Darrell “Bubba” Wallace, Jr. early and sent the No. 43 Chevrolet careening into the outside retaining wall, he was able to race his way up to second-place at the finish, which was enough to advance. After the race, Wallace showed his displeasure by throwing water on Bowman’s face as he received medical attention for heat exhaustion.
Almiorla and Newman fought admirably all day in their attempts to advance but were unable to score enough points to advance. Kurt Busch was caught up in a crash late in the final stage and was unable to move on.
Erik Jones was caught up in a wreck early in the going and received too much damage to continue. Jones, who was disqualified from last week’s race at Richmond following post-race inspection, his playoff hopes were over before they ever really got started.
Drivers advancing to the Round of 12: Martin Truex Jr.,Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, William Byron, Clint Bowyer, Ryan Blaney, and Alex Bowman.
Next week: NASCAR’s elite head to Dover International Speedway for the Drydene 400 (Sunday, Oct. 6, 2:30 PM on NBCSN).
