“He’s going back to New Zealand to tell his friends how bad we are,” Chase Elliott bemoans Cup driver’s loss to ringer Shane van Gisbergen at Chicago
Chase Elliott finished P3 behind Justin Haley and van Gisbergen on Sunday.
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Shane van Gisbergen (Credits: @Trackhouse/Twitter) and Chase Elliott (Credits: IMAGO)
Three times Supercar champion Shane van Gisbergen became the first driver in 60 years to secure a Cup race win on their debut race. The Kiwi driver was able to use his superior street course racing experience compared to the Cup drivers to his advantage and won win the race comfortably at the end, surviving multiple restarts and an over-time in the rain-shorten race.
The 2020 Cup champion Chase Elliott was one of the drivers in contention for the win on Sunday. Elliott, who has been desperately searching for a Cup race win since his return from injury to secure the playoffs, had a shot at Chicago. He is one of the most talented Road Course racers in the garage, and his prowess was on full display at the track, but it only yielded him a P3 behind the winner and P2 Justin Haley.
While discussing van Gisbergen’s performance after the race, Elliott pointed out that the Cup drivers were poorly compared to the Kiwi in their Street Course debut. The HMS driver wants to know how much the Cup garage challenges him regarding racing. He said, “He put on a clinic. He’s going back to New Zealand to tell his friends how bad we are.”
In his post-race media availability, the no:9 Chevy Camaro ZL1 driver doubled his opinion, saying, “He was in a league of his own, and in my opinion, put on a really big-time clinic. I don’t want to speak for everybody else, but he made me look bad, and I kind of think the rest of us, too. Looking forward to going to work and trying to be better.”
Discover more: Police arrest a man for driving an ‘unauthorized vehicle’ onto NASCAR’s Chicago street track ahead of the race
Chase Elliott claims the rain was a factor behind him not winning the race
The uncertainty over the track, combined with the wet condition, made Chicago the challenging race of the 2023 season. He pointed out that he maybe would have scored the win on normal conditions but added that it did add some extra entertainment for Tv audiences.
“I mean, I think the rain probably puts a bit of a damper on that. Otherwise, I think it would have been a home run, personally. I think the rain added an element of excitement for TV or the fans here at the racetrack,” Elliott said.
He is convinced the event succeeded despite rain ruining most post and pre-race concerts. Elliott believes fans and drivers had a good outing and the driver who worked perfectly to get laps won the race.
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