“Too Scared”: Chase Elliott Clarifies Goodyear’s Tire-Wear Hesitation After Dale Earnhardt Jr’s ‘PR Mode’ Jab

The race at Bristol caused a tumult of emotions among drivers, pit crew, and everybody else linked to NASCAR. Tire strategy became the essence of a race for the first time in ages, and drivers were thrown into a frenzy. Veterans and skilled racers warmed up to the challenge, and Dale Earnhardt Jr cheered for them from the stands.

The novel challenge may have thrilled the drivers, but not the tire manufacturers. When the tire dilemma became apparent, Goodyear started scratching its head about how to solve the problem. The race track was eating into tires, and drivers were struggling to make it till the end of the race. But Chase Elliott recently absolved Goodyear of any wrongdoing on their part.

Dale Earnhardt Jr takes a jibe at Goodyear as Elliott takes their side

Many drivers lashed out at NASCAR and Goodyear for playing them dirty. Ryan Blaney and William Byron were among them, blaming the higher-ups for lack of communication. But others took a polar stance, like Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman. They said adaptability is a crucial part of NASCAR, so the onus is on the drivers to be prepared for sudden changes.

Dale Earnhardt Jr recently joked about Goodyear’s jittery condition on his podcast. “When the race started, they were freaking out. They were like, ‘We’re gonna catch hell today’. Fans, drivers, everybody’s gonna be on our ass, so they went PR mode on lap 250.” However, Chase Elliott sympathized with Goodyear, saying, “I just hate they even put them in that position.”

After the Bristol race concluded, Dale Earnhardt Jr flooded his Twitter feed with commendations. He tweeted, “I loved everything about that race today. #NASCAR @ItsBristolBaby”. Then he also re-shared others’ tweets about the exhilarating race.

Dale Jr credited the teams for living up to the situation. “The best thing that happened was, NASCAR got out of the way, and y’all adjusted. The teams and the drivers adjusted and fixed it.” Elliott responded, “As much as we could, during the race.”

Then Elliott shed light on what stands in the way of elevating the quality of racing. “I think Goodyear a lot of times is too scared to bring a tire that wears because the teams are gonna push it so far, they’re gonna have failures. But nobody wants to have failures. I think you gotta give instead of having a really quick reaction. You gotta give the teams a chance to figure out how to live inside the box. Because the tire that wears is crucial to having good racing and having drivers being able to control their destiny.”

Chase Elliott performed well in the Food City 500 race. He battled his way through the tire situation and snagged his first top-ten position in 2024.

Elliott loved tackling the tire problem in Bristol

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Dale Earnhardt Jr was thrilled by the Bristol race without even taking part in it. So the drivers who were a part of it must have been on another level. Chase Elliott started slow initially but climbed his way into the top ten right when it mattered the most. The 2020 Cup Series champion shared his excitement after securing the 8th spot.

“I actually thought it was a lot of fun,” Elliott said. “It was more in our hands than probably ever has been. I don’t know if you want that every week, but it was really fun and refreshing. It was kind of cool that you could kill your tires if you weren’t smart about it. You could make them last…I thought that was really neat.”

Chase Elliott is going into the COTA race this weekend in the highest spirits, as he has a long history of road track victories.

Read More: Joey Logano Finally Confronted Dale Earnhardt Jr After Being Called an “Insurance Salesman” On Netflix