Chase Elliott Bemoans “CRAZY Restarts” at Mexico City After Losing to Shane van Gisbergen

Hendrick Motorsports veteran Chase Elliott shares his feelings about how crazy restarts, among some other factors, cost him momentum and race win at Mexico.

Chase Elliott Bemoans “CRAZY Restarts” at Mexico City After Losing to Shane van Gisbergen

Chase Elliott and Shane van Gisbergen (Via IMAGO and @TeamTrackhouse/X)

Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott is one of the best road course racers in the garage, but he hasn’t been able win a race in these events in the Next-Gen era. He came close to another one at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in the Viva Mexico 250, but a humbling 16+ second win from Shane van Gisbergen turned the tables.

One of the major factors that affected the race were the rain, the chaos it brought in and the restarts drama. He wasn’t able to race as he wanted in the restarts traffic, but once the No:9 car was able to get away from the traffic things were smoother. The major reason Chase Elliott struggled in the restarts was his reflectance to engage in aggressive duels, a factor that has been affecting his performance a lot in the Next-Gen era.

Yeah. I mean, it was, it was a lot going on, for sure, certainly, you know, from the restarts. But once it singled out, it really became a normal road course, I thought, but the restarts were crazy. Just, you know, you get in those situations, and it’s just so tough, because it’s like, you don’t want to be the one to run in there and kind of gouge people out of the way.

Chase Elliott said via Amazon Prime.

Further talking about the point, he admitted that he hates getting caught in gouging incidents in the restarts and he hates to the victim or the cause for the incident. He pointed out that once the chaos of the couple laps are over the race gets fun for the drivers involved. One issue with this mindset is the fact that, there are a lot of NASCAR fans that loves the chaos.

And as soon as you don’t, you get gouged from, you know, from behind. So, it’s just, I don’t, I don’t love that, but, you know, that’s kind of what we got now. These bunkers are so strong, kind of just chaos there for a few laps, so we get single filed out. And then, then it gets pretty fun.

Chase Elliott added.

Chase Elliott hails Carl Edwards broadcasting gig with Prime

In his post-race interview, Chase Elliott analyzed the performance of Hall of Famer Carl Edwards as a broadcaster. He made his debut this year with Amazon prime, for NASCAR’s streaming debut, alongside fellow HoF, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and part-time racer Corey LaJoie.

1. Carl Edwards
Carl Edwards (Via IMAGO)

Talking about it, Elliott pointed out that Edwards is a great storyteller and a great professional in front of the Camera. He believes his honest personality is been shown in front of the Camera, making the right choice for Amazon.

He is a great storyteller. He’s always been very professional and he does good in front of cameras. But he’s also a good guy away from that, too. I think he’s good choice for Amazon. I have not gone back and watched the races thus far.

Chase Elliott said.

The comments from Elliott are product of the positive feedback he got back from his friends and fans about the Prime broadcast. He asserted that the major factor behind this is the presence of Edwards and the good job he does with the mic on his hand.

But I will say this, everyone that has come up to me – you know, friends or fans or whatever that have watched the races over the last few weeks – have had nothing but incredible things to say. And it seems like it’s been really well done, at least that’s kind of been the perception that’s out there that I’ve heard. So, I think Carl has a big role in that. I think he does a really good job.

Chase Elliott added.

The comments from the 2020 Cup champions are a felling reflected by many in the racing community and it’s good that one of the most popular drivers of the sport is recognizing the veteran. It would be interesting to see how Edwards will evolve in his new role in NASCAR.

Also Read: Shane van Gisbergen Humbles NASCAR Garage With “EPIC” 16+ Second Win at Mexico City