By Seth Eggert, Associate Editor
Engine issues at the start of the Hollywood Casino 400 race weekend forced Chase Elliott to rally throughout the first race of the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
Down on power throughout practice and qualifying at Kansas Speedway left the No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 last on the starting grid. That cost the 2020 Cup Series champion crucial pit selection for the race.
Elliott fought an back-and-forth fight throughout the 400-mile race. For every 15 positions that he gained on track, the Hendrick Motorsports driver lost multiple on pit road. That hindered his ability to earn Stage points as the Playoffs are ongoing.
The Dawsonville, GA native entered the top-10 at the end of the second stage, finishing ninth. However, the poor pit selection dropped him outside of the top-15 to start the final Stage. Elliott climbed up the running order once more before another caution waved with just over 30 laps to go.
The 28-year-old once again dropped out of the top-10 during the ensuing pit stops. Elliott made quick work of Brad Keselowski, who stayed out on old tires. He also worked his way by Austin Dillon, Chris Buescher, rookie Zane Smith, and more before taking the checkered flag in ninth.
“We just had an uphill battle all day,” Elliott said. “I really thought our No. 9 UniFirst Chevy was pretty good. We were able to move forward a long ways it seemed like. Since we had a bad pit pick, ultimately it just puts you in a bad position to lose spots on pit road. It just seemed like we would get a bunch of spots on the track, and then lose a bunch of spots on pit road. We tried to claw our way back up into the top-10, so it was nice to at least get that far.”
While Elliott had to battle back from a poor starting spot and pit selection, he also narrowly avoided disaster on the opening lap. He brushed the wall as Josh Berry, Harrison Burton, Ty Dillon, and Jimmie Johnson crashed around him. His Chevrolet was largely undamaged from the incident that ended Berry’s race before the rookie could complete a lap.
The ninth-place finish marked Elliott’s 15th top-10 finish of the season, matching his total from last season. It also marked the 167th top-10 of his Cup Series career.
The top-10 finish kept Elliott seventh on the Playoff grid, tied with Joey Logano. He is 30-points behind leader William Byron, and has a four-point cushion over Tyler Reddick, the first driver below the cutline.
Next for Elliott is the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. He has two wins in 17 starts at the 2.66-mile track including one in the NextGen car.
The YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway is scheduled for Sunday, October 6 at 2:00 p.m. ET on NBC. The race will also be broadcast on both the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.