Chase Elliott Explains His Nightmare Pitstop at Richmond

At the Richmond Raceway, Chase Elliott had a race to forget. Sometime during the race, he endured an excruciatingly slow pit stop. Apparently, he had overshot his pit box and tried to remedy it by backing up. This proved to be his undoing, because he ran over the rear jack. Naturally, it wrecked the jack, and the car sustained a bit of damage.

It is also worth mentioning that he had a narrow miss with Ross Chastain in the pit lane. As Elliott was coming in, Chastain in the #42 car was just coming out of his pit box. At least the team did a wonderful job of turning things around and getting him out. What could have been a two or three-minute delay, only lasted 15 or 20 seconds.

What did Chase Elliott say after the race?

Speaking afterwards, he said, “I knew I was way long. Obviously, it’s really hard to tell. I can’t see the line. I know the guys are off the top of the box to help with the pit stop. So, then I’m sitting there and I know I’m deep, maybe they didn’t have the ability to key up the mic because they had a lot going on. I just took it upon myself to back up and TJ had already hit the right-side jack. At that point.”

According to the Hendrick Motorsports driver, he did not want to get his pit stop done over the line. He believed that that move would only serve to make the problem even worse. In the end, his cautious approach was what cost him finally in the end. On the bright side, he managed to salvage something and finished the race in fourth.

Admittedly, he needs to have a good race at the coming race weekend at Bristol to qualify. However, he is perfectly capable of moving up the order. Last time the paddock raced at Bristol, Chase Elliott ended the race in 10th place. So he could be in with a shout of another decent performance this weekend.

READ MORE: “Lot of Excitement” – Chase Elliott Recalls His Maiden Start in the NASCAR Cup Series