The 2023 Cup Series has been a sad affair, to say the least, for the most popular driver of NASCAR, Chase Elliott. What seemed to be inconceivable to many materialized on the track of Daytona as the No.9 Chevrolet driver failed to clinch a victory and couldn’t enter the playoffs for the first time in his eight years of Cup Series career. But could this crashing reality have created tensions within the team? Well, it does seem that way from the outside. 

Despite the 7-year playoff streak breaking, the No.9 car was still eligible to contend for the owner’s championship in the playoff races. Hence, anticipating a victory, the NASCAR fandom seems to grow restless, with the performance delivered by the driver, especially after the recent outing at Kansas. But now, there may be some other set of problems at the HMS Camp as NASCAR Inside, Larry McReynolds, spilled the beans on Chase Elliott’s vulnerabilities and downfall.

Larry McReynolds gives his stance on Chase Elliott’s recent performance

The 2020 Cup Series champion in the ongoing season has finished in the top 5s and top 10s, however, it is just a victory that the driver is elusive of. Apart from missing seven races, Elliott had failed to show the aggressiveness that was expected of him and has arguably remained nonchalant. Nevertheless, contending for the owner’s championship, the golden boy has assuredly shown signs of resurgence delivering top-10 finishes in the last two races. However, a single pit road incident has again thrown the driver at the shorter end of the stick, as NASCAR insiders seem to decode the reasons behind the behavior of Elliott in the Kansas playoff race.

Being tapped by his teammate Kyle Larson while exiting the pit road had made Elliott furious. As a sign of retaliation, the No.9 driver drove up to the door of Larson’s car during the race. 

Moreover, after the conclusion of the race, Elliott confronted his teammate for being shoved by him. The incident drew the attention of the paddock and NASCAR journalist, trying to divulge the facts from the driver. However, the driver denied racing hard against Larson. Owing to this fact, former NASCAR crew chief Larry McReynolds expressed the reasons behind the emotional outburst of Chase Elliott.

In his conversation with FOX journalists, the veteran stated, “I mean, I am always hesitant about saying how a driver should react inside the race car because I have never been buckled in that race car now. Did I let my emotions get carried away up on that pit box? Chase has gotta learn to control his emotions, what is one of the reasons that he’s in the position right now and he’s not part of the playoffs.”

“He let his emotions get carried away at Charlotte Motor Speedway and to me the answer he gave Bob, that’s even worse look why would you do that? Honestly, when I think things started getting heated between Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, I am going to go back to 2021 when Kyle Larson started driving the 5-car and went out there and won 10 races and the All-Star Race and the championship,” McReynolds concluded.

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Chase Elliott spills the beans on the Kansas fiasco

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On being asked by Bob Pockrass, the FOX reporter, if Elliott was trying to send any message across to his teammate, the driver replied, “There was no message.”

On the contrary, Larson gave a detailed overview of the incident, and why Elliott chose to retaliate. He stated, “Obviously, I made contact with [Elliott], but I felt like if I didn’t, I was going to clobber the 6 right in the right front. I thought the safest bet for all of us was for me to squeeze out a little bit.”

“I understand why he’s mad, or was mad in the moment. I hope when he sees the replay, he understands I didn’t have the space, or not much. It was just inches.” 

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Nevertheless, with still the hopes of earning his first victory of the season, Chase Elliott has a handful of races to prove his cynics wrong. However, the question that remains is whether the driver will be able to do so or will the season turn out to be a bummer.