Chase Elliott Reveals He Only Joined Denny Hamlin in Protest After NASCAR Ultimatum Failed: “As Long as We Can… “

Currently, the only topic on everyone’s mind in the NASCAR community is driver safety. The conversation pretty much started at Pocono when Kurt Busch had his accident and got a concussion. Since then though, concussions and other injuries have claimed Alex Bowman and Cody Ware.

Now, this is starting to alarm the drivers and many are beginning to speak out. Among them are Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick. Just recently Chase Elliott revealed that he is the latest to join the protests.

He said, “There was a lot of expressing done even through the winter last year, and maybe even as far back as end of the last season in last fall.”

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“I remember the conversations being had, the comments and concerns being made of some of these exact things we’re seeing. So I think that’s frustrating in a sense. It’s been discussed for a long time.”

What else did Chase Elliott say about the situation?

NASCAR, in a way, can be lauded for their safety standards, considering that the last on-track fatality was the great Dale Earnhardt in 2001. However, ever since the introduction of the Next Gen car earlier this year, many drivers have been growing concerned.

Elliott continued, “My stance on it was, ‘Hey, as long as we can look at each other in the eye next year and confidently say we’re going forward, you won’t hear anything out of me’, then at that point I will speak up.”

“So I just try to give it ample time to make the right decisions and make sure we’re going in the right direction. When you see some of your friends and competitors go down, at that point it’s like, ‘Okay, we gotta get on this and get it fixed.'”

READ MORE: After Slamming NASCAR for Going Backwards, Chase Elliott Uncovers “Unreasonable” Demand in Fresh Statement

One thing is for sure, the NASCAR Cup drivers are getting more and more worried with each passing race. Last weekend at the Talladega Superspeedway, aside from one early wreck, the entire race was surprisingly calm. No drivers attempted any banzai moves, and any moves executed were clean and largely without contact.