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CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA – MAY 24: Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, exits his car after the NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 24, 2020 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

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CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA – MAY 24: Chase Elliott, driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, exits his car after the NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 24, 2020 in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
The ambitious Watermelon farmer ended Chase Elliott’s hopes of getting a second title at Phoenix, as their cars made a brief contact. Unfortunately, it resulted in the #9 spinning out and hitting the wall which threw him down to 30th with one lap behind the rest. Now, who was at fault is still up for debate. In fact, even it being someone’s fault is up for debate because it very well could be not much more than a racing incident.
But the radio chat seems to reveal that more drivers were involved in this other than just the #9 and #1.
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Right after the wreck, Elliott’s spotter, Eddie D’Hondt asked, “You get damage?”, to which Chase replied, “Yep. Killed.”, “What the f*ck?”. Of course, the 2020 Cup Series Champion is pissed. But the #1 was involved in the wreck too, and his spotter wanted to know if he got any damage, but Chastain wasn’t sure. He simply replied, “Not sure. Right front headlight if I did”.
But from the looks of it, William Byron got involved in the wreck too when he asked his spotter, “Damn. The #1 got him?”, and his spotter replied, “Correct.” Of course, feeling bad for this teammate, he replied, “That’s not good.”
Interestingly enough, Kevin Harvick’s spotter was quite different because he thinks, “The #1 got him down there. Trying to block as well. I don’t think he did anything wrong.”
Ross Chastain was worried about Chase Elliott as his spotter called out his driving style
Of course, the wreck was unfortunate, especially for a playoff contender. But Chastain’s sportsmanship resurfaced because he was quite worried about Elliott.

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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)
Ross asked, “Is the #9 hurt?” to which his spotter replied, “Tagged the wall a bit with the right side.”
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Chase was curious whether he was at fault too, “I mean did I do something wrong there or what?”. However, his crew chief, Alex Gustafson reassured him, as he called out the #1 team’s racing style, “No bud. I don’t know what to tell you. These guys race that way. They race that way all the time.”
And the 2020 Cup Series Champion instantly assumed it was Ross,“Was it the #1?”
WATCH THIS STORY: Chase Elliott Held Guilty for “Killing” Own Car in Supposed Ross Chastain Dirty Move: “Can’t Expect Someone in the Championship 4 to Lift for You”
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Quite an interesting image the #1 car has built over the course of just one season. Who do you think was really at fault?
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