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HARTFORD, OHIO – JULY 23: Chase Elliott #9 gets ready for his practice laps prior to the SRX main event at Sharon Speedway on July 23, 2022 in Hartford, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/SRX/Getty Images)
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HARTFORD, OHIO – JULY 23: Chase Elliott #9 gets ready for his practice laps prior to the SRX main event at Sharon Speedway on July 23, 2022 in Hartford, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/SRX/Getty Images)
Chase Elliott didn’t really help himself after he blatantly ignored an important question about an even more important event in the championship race at Phoenix, from which he emerged empty-handed.
The event in subject proved to be a detrimental one for the Hendrick Motorsports driver as he was (supposedly) spun around by Ross Chastain.
Asked about this in post-race, the #9 driver ignored the question out of existence, because of which he received a lot of criticism from the fans and a few NASCAR insiders.
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Chase Elliott was asked about the contact between him and Ross Chastain that essentially ended his championship hopes. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/HUTPnaACDm
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) November 7, 2022
But the real question is, could Chase Elliott have been so mad about Ross Chastain that he just couldn’t bring himself to reflect or explain an event that stopped him from even having a shot at his second Cup championship?
Well, if you ask Dale Earnhardt Jr, the Trackhouse Racing driver wasn’t guilty in the first place, and Elliott somewhere knew of this.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. feels Chastain “obviously” not at fault in the Chase Elliott spin
Speaking about this incident in a recent episode of his podcast, Dale Earnhardt Jr. claimed what happened between Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain “really comes down to mentality.”
After admitting that every driver would’ve reacted in such a situation differently, Junior claimed Ross Chastain did nothing wrong in “letting the #9 spin himself out.”
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“I think it was obviously not Ross’ fault because Chase couldn’t tell if he did anything wrong,” he emphasized. “If you gotta say, ‘Did I do something wrong there?’, then obviously it’s not clear cut ‘Ross screwed up’ or ‘Ross is a bad guy.'”
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BROOKLYN, MICHIGAN – AUGUST 07: Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 UniFirst Chevrolet, walks the grid prior to the NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on August 07, 2022 in Brooklyn, Michigan. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
With Dale Jr’s comments in mind, do you still think Chase Elliott was the victim in this entire incident?
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Let us know in the comments below.
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