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via Getty

via Getty

On the last Sunday of the season, there were 4 drivers vying for the top prize in Phoenix. Joey Logano made the most of this opportunity to win his second Championship, and the other 3 drivers were left battling within themselves; with Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain being the belligerents for the night.

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The Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain has been discussed in depth across all modes and forms of media. While Chastain refused to take responsibility for the move, Elliott maintained a more ‘diplomatic’ stance on the incident after the race, refusing to answer questions thrown at him with any accusations or allegations.

On Corey LaJoie’s podcast, “Stacking Pennies with Corey LaJoie”, he discussed the incident with Logano. Logano asked him “What’s your take [on the Chase Elliott-Ross Chastain incident]?” Corey said “I think Ross is aggressive. Let’s just assume for a second that Chase doesn’t keep turning right. There was a point at which Chase couldn’t steer to the right because by the time, he’s at traction brakes, you’re done.”

“You’re already turned around. Now what I don’t know happens is if Ross gets to the inside like you’re bottom of six wide, the track’s dirty down there where are you gonna go. But I also know that if you can get position on him there on a restart…”

Logano then chimed in with “Or you just wreck one-fourth of your competition that day, and that’s what he might’ve been going for there.” But LaJoie didn’t agree, “I don’t think it was intentional. [Is it Ross’ job to lift?] No. You’re racing for Championship.”

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Safe to say, LaJoie is strongly stationed in Chastain’s corner with regard to the whole incident and the fighting about it. Now that the season has ended, there’s not too much either side can do about it anyway.

Chase Elliott has already forgotten everything about Ross Chastain

Elliott was looking for his second title on Sunday despite only being 26 years old. The Hendrick Motorsports driver was among the favorites to win given his outstanding record all year long. But things didn’t play out as planned.

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Elliott was out of the race as soon as the wreck took place, falling behind the pack and then unable to make it back up. Asked about it in the post-race interviews, a visibly Elliott said, “Yeah, I’m not sure. I’m not sure. Looking forward to the off-season, and really proud of our team for the fight that we put in today.”

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“I felt like we just kind of peaked right there before we crashed, and I felt like we got our car driving pretty good, we just had our best pit stop of the day, so that was all really solid. And heck, we were right there next to the 22. I thought we had a shot at it all the way up until we didn’t, and that’s unfortunately the way it goes sometimes.”

He added with annoyance, “I don’t really care about 2023 right now.”

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Elliott was rightly upset and annoyed with how things had gone for him in Phoenix, but it wouldn’t be too fair to read too much into his comments. He will be clicking on the reset button and coming back into the 2023 season with a lot of hope and ambition.