Chase Elliott “really bummed” by Pocono Xfinity loss after restart run-in

Chase Elliott wasn’t even supposed to be running the NASCAR Xfinity Series race this weekend, but in a surprise announcement earlier in the week, Hendrick Motorsports revealed that the sport’s Most Popular Driver would be taking part in the 100-lapper on Saturday.

Elliott, who is currently facing a 40+ race winless streak in the Cup Series, was happy to get behind the wheel of the No. 17 Chevrolet for just the second time this year. He also ran the Darlington race, finishing second. But at Pocono, he earned pole position in his first NXS pole since his 2014 title campaign. Elliott was quite fast, leading 38 laps and maintaining a spot near the front for the entire race.

However, despite leading the way with just 13 laps to go, things did not go his way in what would end up being the penultimate restart. Reigning series champion Justin Allgaier was to his inside, but the JR Motorsports driver entered Turn 1 unexpectedly high, likely paying attention to Jesse Love who was looking at possibly taking them three-wide.

Allgaier found himself in a bad aero spot right against Elliott, touching doors and sliding sideways. Both drivers managed to avoid a crash, but it was a costly moment as they fell to the backend of the top ten.

Elliott’s perspective

Allgaier remained there, finishing tenth while Elliott fought his way back up to fourth. Allgaier immediately found him after the race to apologize, but it was still a tough moment for the HMS driver. 

“It definitely changed my ending,” said Elliott when asked about the restart. “He [Allgaier] came over and apologized. I’m assuming that he got in there and got loose. I just saw him rapidly approaching my door and typically, at that point, you have the choice to either just crash or give him the space that he needs to gather it up. We were both in trouble at that point. 

“Really bummed. We had such a fast Chevy and it was a lot of fun, just kind of leading the charge there and dicing it up through the field, lead some laps and pass (cars). And get some good reps, restarting races and being on the front row — all those things are really good to do. A lot of fun. Thank you to everyone at HMS for letting me drive, thank you to the boss [Rick Hendrick] for letting me drive. And hopefully, this thing will still be this fast next year whenever my turn comes around.”

Looking ahead to the Cup race, Elliott is the highest-qualifying Hendrick driver but that was still only 18th in an unusually rough qualifying session for the iconic organization.