“Dumb” Chase Elliott Denies He Was Trying to Send a Strong Message: “Just Messed Up”

The 2022 Watkins Glen race was definitely unforgettable for a lot of people. Including Hendrick Motorsports driver, Chase Elliott. For one, the heated battle between Elliott and his teammate Kyle Larson attracted a lot of media attention. And two, Elliot’s post-race interview where he kept bringing up the Bristol Speedway instead of the Daytona 500 as his next race.

Though, by the time the 2020 Cup Series champion reached the post-race press conference, he realized the mistake he has been making. Moreover, he corrected himself during the press event and said that he had no idea why Bristol was constantly on his mind. But it seems that the NASCAR community does not want Elliott to forget the mix-up.

In a short clip posted by News 5 WYCB reporter Jarvis Haren on September 17, Jarvis asked Elliott what the entire Bristol-Daytona mix-up was all about. Happy to get a chance to clear things up, finally, Elliott revealed what people asked him after the mix-up.

Further, he also said that it was an honest mistake without any intention of sending across a hidden message. He said; “People were asking me the other day, what subtle message I was trying to give. And I am like, you must not know me, I am just that dumb.”

Clearly, Elliott had no idea where he was going next week. But there were several fan theories surrounding the topic. A few people connected Elliott’s eagerness to go to Bristol with his last year’s feud with Kevin Harvick. They conjectured that maybe Elliott would give it back to Kyle Larson during the Bristol race as he did with Harvick.

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However, trashing all the theories, Elliott said; “I literally just didn’t know where I was going the next week. Sorry, to disappoint everybody. But I literally just messed up. I just didn’t know!”

When Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin roasted Chase Elliott

As if fan theories were not enough, NASCAR drivers like Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin took it upon themselves to remind Chase Elliott about his goof-up. The two fellow drivers took the help of sarcastic posts on Instagram to roast him.

24XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace posted a picture of him at the Watkins Glen Raceway. Further, the driver wrote “Not much for us at The Glen. Bristol next.” The words were clearly a dig at Elliott and NASCAR fans couldn’t get enough of Wallace’s sarcasm.

Similarly, Denny Hamlin also posted his picture with his daughter at Watkins Glen. And like Wallace, he made sure to take a dig at Elliott’s mix-up in the comment section. He wrote, “P20 at Watkins Glen. On to Bristol.”

Furthermore, the NASCAR media also made sure to take part in the roast. And fans loved every second of it. Business Insider journalist Alanis King posted a tweet on her official handle advising Elliott’s social team on how to make the most of the situation.

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She said, “If I were Chase Elliott’s social team, I would make him fly his ass to Bristol this week and take a photo so I could tweet “Where is everybody?” from his account on Friday.”