Chase Elliott Slams NASCAR Over ‘Gimmicks and Manufactured Excitement’ in Cup Races

HMS star driver Chase Elliott shared his thoughts on the aggressive tier wear at Bristol Motor Speedway, and how it is affecting the sport.

Chase Elliott Slams NASCAR Over ‘Gimmicks and Manufactured Excitement’ in Cup Races

Chase Elliott (via Hendrickmotorsports.com)

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The NASCAR Cup Series race last Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway witnessed a wild and chaotic race, owing to the Goodyear tire. It had aggressive rubber fall off, which changed the whole race dynamic, showing signs a return to glory days of the track. But 2020 Cup champion Chase Elliott wasn’t a big fan of the change.

During an interview with Chris Weaver, ahead of this Sunday’s race at New Hampshire, Chase Elliott shared his thoughts on the chaos and tire-shredding spectacle. He admitted that thought it was cool and fun, it doesn’t seem to be more than putting a band-aid on the big issue with short track racing in the Next-Gen era. So, it’s not the right decision for the long run.

It was chaos, which I think is what they wanted… o, they got it… It was a tire-shredding spectacle…. I don’t know. I mean, it was cool and fun, I just wonder how cool and fun it would be if you did it all the time, you know what I’m saying? I think you’re trying to put a Band-Aid on a bigger problem with that.

Chase Elliott said via Racing Report with Chris Weaver.

Further talking about the point, the ex-champion shared his issues with NSCAR coming up with small updates to fix the issues with racing. He sees it nothing more than manufacturing excitement, which he understands is essential for TV as it yield NASCAR $1.1 billion a year. But the lack of natural entertainment is a major issue for the sport.

And I’ve never been a huge proponent of having to manufacture excitement in general. Look, I get it. I understand how it works, and entertainment has value and competition has value.

Chase Elliott added.

The veteran racer pointed out that as someone who is a true competitor at heart, he hates watching gimmicks dictates races. But he is ready to cut some slack for NASCAR, as he understand more excitement is good for the sport, as the track owners as well as the promoters can have a better bottom line at the end of the day.

Being a competitor at heart, I want just true competition and without the gimmicks. But I certainly understand that there’s an element to these promoters and track owners and operators that they want certain things.

Chase Elliott asserted.

Chase Elliott makes honest admission about poor Bristol result

The No:9 Chavey driver saw himself almost got eliminated last Sunday, after finishing the race at P38 owing to an early race wreck involving John Hunter Nemecheck. He talked about the wreck and how he felt about it, ahead of NH weekend.

Chase Elliott (via USA Today)
Chase Elliott (via USA Today)

The veteran admitted that he thought his season was over after the incident and was beyond disappointed about their 2025, following the incident. But luck played it’s part, as it was his teammate Alex Bowman that became the first HMS racer to get eliminated.

At that time, I thought our night, I thought our season was over, to be honest… Had a brief conversation with (crew chief) Alan (Gustafson) right when I got out of the car. I was like, ‘Man, is that going to knock us out? Yeah, I think so.’ At that point, obviously, we’re just bummed.

Chase Elliott said.

The Chevy racer will be looking for redemption this coming weekend at New Hampshire, hoping to end the dominance of Joe Gibbs Racing driver. It would be interesting to see how everything is going to playout for the HMS racer and his two teammates in the playoffs R-12.

Also Read: “That’s Not How My Dad Taught Me!” Ryan Blaney Insists He Always Race Respectfully on the Track