“Lot of Target Practice Out There” – Chase Elliott’s COTA Replacement Left Bamboozled by NASCAR “Aggression” Following Dramatic Cup Series Debut

NASCAR is one of those sports in which drivers from other motorsports come and try their potential. For some, it results in a good experience, while for others it becomes a complete disaster. Something similar was experienced by Hendrick Motorsports‘ replacement for Chase Elliott in the Cup Series race at the Circuit of the Americas, Jordan Taylor.

Chase Elliott has been sitting out of the competition since the race in Fontana due to his unfortunate snowboarding accident. So, Hendrick Motorsports roped in the IMSA champion and road course specialist, Jordan Taylor, to drive Elliott’s #9 Chevy at COTA. However, despite being a long-time viewer of Cup Series races, Taylor underestimated the aggression that is shown by full-time drivers.

The NASCAR Cup Series race took the debutant on an unexpected ride

Jordan Taylor has driven on COTA before, but never in a Cup Series car. Having limited on-hand experience with racing in the Cup Series, he was unable to anticipate the gravity of the situations that may arise in the race.

On being asked about how his race went, he explained, “It was a bit of a disaster. I had a couple mistakes early on, of my own, and then from there it was just kind of damage control, trying not to get smashed too many times. […] I couldn’t figure out what to do to not get knocked out of the way.”

“I’m not sure what I would have done differently looking back but I think those mistakes early on set us back too far to be in that mid-pack,” he added.

Taylor believes that if he had prior knowledge about how rough the drivers play, he would’ve been more cautious from the beginning and would’ve given a better performance, keeping the team in the top five. He was confused if the other drivers are aiming for him specifically, as he said, “Yeah. There’s a lot of target practice out there.”

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Being an inexperienced Cup Series driver, Taylor faced a lot of challenges during the race. However, there was a certain thing about the race that really caught him off-guard.

What stung Taylor the most about the race?

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Taylor went through a lot of unforeseeable experiences. But when the reporter asked him, “Anything catch you off guard from today?” Taylor took no time to reply, saying, “The aggression definitely caught me off guard. I think had more contact today in one race than probably my entire career combined.”

Just like every other driver, Taylor felt the aggression of contact in NASCAR. Apparently, he has never experienced these many bumps and shoves in his career and it made him quite uncomfortable out there.

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Jordan’s debut race might not have been satisfactory for the team, but it has surely given some experience to Elliott’s replacement. Will Taylor be able to improve upon his performance before Chase recovers? We will find out soon enough.