DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Chase Elliott climbed from his car and sat on the outside wall of the track in stunned disbelief that the Daytona 500 victory that was his — his first one, only a few feet from the finish line — was wiped out in a wreck.
NASCAR's most popular driver, Elliott needed a moment to collect his thoughts outside the No. 9 Chevrolet. Fireworks exploded behind Elliott for race winner Tyler Reddick. Elliott could only think of how
close that celebration — and the victorious pool hall siren in Dawsonville, Georgia, being sounded— was to being for him.
“We were leading the Daytona 500 off (turn) four coming to the checkered flag," Elliott said, "and didn’t win.”
About the only Daytona 500 victory that could have been more popular than an Elliott winning the race would have been a checkered flag for team owner Michael Jordan. Jordan co-owns 23XI Racing and certainly his team's victory infused NASCAR with splashy headlines and needed buzz coming out of the sport's version of the Super Bowl when Reddick emerged from the wreck Sunday to top Elliott.
“He had a great shot at it coming off four," Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron said. "It’s a bummer for sure.”
The Daytona 500 feels like one big bummer for Elliott.
Elliott, the 2020 NASCAR champion, won a qualifying race for the third time in his career leading into the race. He has started from the pole twice in his career.
Again, early Daytona success meant nothing on race day: Elliott finished fourth and fell to 0 for 11 at the Daytona 500.
“I’m not the type of person that ever lets myself get there in the first place,” Elliott said. “I knew it wasn’t over. That’s part of this style of racing.”
Elliott had control on the final lap after leader Carson Hocevar was spun off the track and it appeared he would finally win his first Daytona 500. Reddick instead made a huge surge and hit Elliott. Elliott, who finished as runner-up in 2021, crashed and Reddick sailed past to take Jordan to the Daytona International Speedway victory lane.
“I just felt like Tyler was coming so quick,” Elliott said. “I kind of blocked one direction. He went the other way.”
Jeff Gordon, the three-time Daytona 500 champion who now serves as an executive at Hendrick, stood atop the pit box and seemingly tried to push Elliott to victory lane. He leaned back in his seat and put his hands on his headset, crushed in the moment as Elliott was collected in the wreck.
Elliott, the 30-year-old son of Hall of Fame driver and two-time Daytona 500 champion Bill Elliott, found little consolation in having a great shot at the end at winning.
“You can run it through your mind 1,000 times, do you do something different,” Elliott said. “I feel like if I had thrown a double block on (Reddick), probably would have just crashed us at that point in time. I felt like you had to pick your battles. I thought maybe if somebody would pick me up on the top, you might have one more run to the line, but unfortunately ended up getting turned around.”
Elliott, who has 21 career Cup wins, has yet to win NASCAR's biggest prize. Even though Elliott doesn’t have a win in the Daytona 500, he has shown promise. He has finished inside the top 20 seven of the last eight years, including a second place showing in 2021.
The losing streak goes on — even as confidence remains high he'll join his dad one day in the select group of Daytona 500 champions.
“I think you have to trust in that a little bit; keep your head down, stay working, and if there’s a day and a time for us, then there is,” Elliott said. “We’ll enjoy that moment if it ever comes.”
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
