By Aaron Bearden, Motorsports Editor
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Chase Elliott was one of the favorites to win Sunday’s 60th Annual Daytona 500. The Georgian was aggressive, his No. 9 Chevrolet was strong, and as the field hit the halfway point of the race he was engaged in a battle for the lead.
In the blink of an instant, that all fell apart.
Elliott was attempting a dive under leader Ryan Blaney on Lap 102 when contact from Brad Keselowski sent his No. 9 Chevrolet around, initiating a multi-car accident that eliminated Elliott as well as a host of contenders including Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne and Danica Patrick in her final planned Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start.
Game changer. @chaseelliott hits the wall. #DAYTONA500 pic.twitter.com/AdiTneax73
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 18, 2018
The worst hit of the crash went to Elliott, who hit the outside wall head-on before spinning violently and being hit by David Ragan, Patrick and Kahne. The third-year Hendrick Motorsports driver claimed to be alright after the crash.
“I’m fine, just unfortunate set of circumstances,” Elliott said. “I had a big push from Brad (Keselowski) and was trying to do something with it on Ryan (Blaney).
“I didn’t really expect to get by him. I was kind of feeling him out to see how aggressive he wanted to be and just kind of got light over the transition and was a big push at the wrong time I guess. It happens and we will just move on down the road.”
The run ended a strong effort for Elliott, who led four laps and ran inside of the top 10 for the majority of the event prior to his crash. The 22-year-old was among the most aggressive in the field for the duration of his run, a truth he claimed was necessary on the 2.5-mile oval.
“It was really aggressive all day” Elliott said. “I hate that… it’s so tough I think that everybody kind of… the safest place to be is out front and everybody wants to be there, that is the problem. I don’t know exactly how you fix that. It just kind of is what it is.
“I hate it. I just wanted to make it to the end and give ourselves a chance, so I hate that we didn’t have that opportunity.”
Elliott made the playoffs in each of his first two years in the Cup Series, but he has yet to claim a points-paying race on the tour. His lone wins in Cup competition have come in the 2017 and ’18 Can-Am Duel qualifying races at Daytona.