Chase Elliott holds unwanted mark after Daytona | Sports News

For most drivers, a NASCAR Cup Series championship defines a profession. For Chase Elliott, it created a unusual statistical hole that refuses to vanish, even after one other painful Daytona 500.

Elliott has constructed one of essentially the most completed résumés of his era. He captured the 2020 Cup Series title, has more than 20 profession wins throughout ovals and highway programs, a number of superspeedway victories at Talladega, wins at his hometown Atlanta observe and a long record of special-event trophies together with the All-Star Race and the Clash. Yet the game’s greatest phases keep slipping away.

The absence is especially placing at Daytona. Elliott has now made 20 begins within the Great American Race with out a win, recording solely three top-five finishes and 6 top-10s.

For a driver who routinely runs on the entrance on superspeedways and has even received qualifying Duel races, the hole is tough to elucidate.

Sunday added one other chapter to the sample. Elliott managed a lot of the ultimate lap and exited Turn 4 main, showing moments away from lastly claiming the Harley J. Earl Trophy. Instead, a block forward triggered contact that despatched him spinning into the SAFER barrier as Tyler Reddick surged previous to win.

“I’m not the type of person that ever lets myself get there in the first place, so I knew it wasn’t over,” Elliott stated.

Moments later, the race was gone.

“At that point, nobody’s lifting, and I totally get that,” Elliott stated. “This obviously sucks to be that close there in the closing lap and have the lead off Turn 4 and come up short. But I think momentum had just shifted the other direction, and it was just all defense, and being on defense in the last lap is tough.”

The Daytona 500 carries outsized significance within the game. Winning it could possibly outline a profession — and never successful it could possibly outline one too. Elliott acknowledged that weight afterward.

“Just hate to be that close, you know?” he stated. “It’s such a big deal down here, and it kind of sucks. But that’s part of this deal.”

His frustration is just not restricted to Daytona. He has come close elsewhere. A late warning erased a possible Coca-Cola 600 victory in 2020, whereas sturdy Darlington and Indianapolis runs have ended short. Across NASCAR historical past, solely a handful of drivers — Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt — have captured all 4 crown-jewel races.