If there’s one thing common, exciting, and frustrating about sports in general, it is that things always change, and nothing remains the same. Just look at the fairytale run of Chase Elliott that came to a crashing end at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
After a month of finishes inside the top 2, the Hendrick Motorsports driver had a terrible race.
But what’s worse is the fact that it was so not because of his fault, but because of his own teammate and his own crew chief.
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The son of Awesome Bill from Dawsonville found himself on the wrong side of a wreck in the making between William Byron and Ryan Blaney, which ended up spinning him around.
Then there was the confusion about pitting the #9 that came by the hand of Elliott’s crew chief, Alan Gustafson, something for which he apologized afterward.
“That’s my fault. I was working on it. Got it figured out a little too late,” the crew chief said.
WATCH THIS STORY: Chase Elliott & Denny Hamlin Combine to Give Ross Chastain “An A** Whipping”
Both of these incidents were the factors in Elliott’s boiling frustration in the race that eventually came out in the form of a radio message – “F*** me. What a f***ing day.”
"F*** me. What a f***ing day."
Chase Elliott
— Jordan Bianchi (@Jordan_Bianchi) July 31, 2022
Chase Elliott was still the saving grace for Hendrick Motorsports at IMS
Despite the confusion in the pit stop, despite the late-race wreck with Blaney and Byron, and despite his 16th place finish, a spectacular fall from the 1-2 habit he had in the whole of July, Chase Elliott was still the saving grace for his team.
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This is because 16th was the highest finish for any Hendrick driver in the race at Indianapolis.
Alex Bowman got himself taken out in a wreck with Kevin Harvick, Byron collided with Blaney and finished 31st, and Kyle Larson had a scary crash with Ty Dillon in the middle of the race, also taking himself out.
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So it was only Elliott, who came home to take the checkered flag at the road course, ending up yet again, as Hendrick’s hero.