“If he wants to keep it, he can keep it,” Chase Elliott doesn’t want to ask Denny Hamlin for the Pocono winner trophy
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Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin
‘One man’s misfortune is another man’s fortune’, that’s what exactly happened last Sunday on Pocono Raceway as the No:9 Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott was awarded the race win even though he finished P3 at the end. Elliott got the win after the top 2 finishers, the race winner Denny Hamlin and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch who finished P2, cars failed in the post-race inspection.
NASCAR stripped Denny Hamlin of his win after unauthorized materials were found “on the lower fascia, which is the bottom part of the nose that attaches to the splitter. It was extra layers of vinyl that in effect deviated the part from the approved CAD files,”. Chase Elliott was awarded the win after the long inspection and has on Monday came forth expressing his thoughts on why he doesn’t think he earned the win and why he doesn’t wish to have the trophy from Hamlin.
Chase Elliott acknowledged that if Denny Hamlin wants to keep the Pocono trophy with him as he I s okay with the veteran having the trophy. He added that Hamlin finished the line first o Pocono and he won’t feel like he earned the win at the track on Sunday. He once again pointed out that he isn’t going to ask for the trophy from Hamlin and is okay about the veteran having it.
“If he wants to keep it, he can keep it as far as I’m concerned. He crossed the finish line first. I haven’t really thought about that, but I didn’t feel like I earned it on track yesterday. So, if he wants to keep it, then I’m good with that. I’m not going to ask for it,” says Chase Elliott.
“This is unique and a bit different” Chase Elliott on his playoff positioning and regular season championship
Talking about his regular season championship situation and how he positioned himself top of the play-off Chase Elliott acknowledged that he is happy about the playoff bonus points he has amassed, 24 points from his start in the final 10 races and the driver’s second to him is Ross Chastain who is 10 points behind. He added that the situation he is in now is something unique and has never been part of in his career.
“They’re certainly nice to have, for sure. It’s what you want. It’s what we strive to achieve at the beginning of the season, and I think anything you can do to hedge your bet at a shot to Phoenix is very helpful, and putting those bonus points in that bucket for the playoffs is the best way to do that. We’ve never really been in a position throughout the course of my career to have very many going into the playoffs, so this is unique and a bit different,” Chase Elliott said.
Chase Elliott went on to say that he pointed out that even if not for his Pocono win the No:9 team was in the better place from a bonus point perspective for the final 10 and added that regardless of what happened on Sunday he is proud of his team’s achievements in the last five races adding that they have opportunities ahead of them to continue this run.
“Even if you take the win away [from] yesterday, we’re in a better place from a bonus point perspective than I can recall being in going into the final 10. So, I’m proud of that regardless of yesterday’s stuff and looking forward to these five races to try to get some more. I think there are still opportunities ahead of us to continue to hedge that bet,” Chase Elliott added.
Chase Elliott went on to say that the position he is in right now does not assure any hopes of Championship four as there are instances in the past where drivers with eight or nine wins failed to get up there. He points out that having the bonus point from a potential regular-season championship win can be huge for them in the path toward the final four.
“It’s never a guarantee; we’ve seen guys with seven, eight, nine wins not make it to the final four. However, it does hedge your bet and anything you can do to help yourself is what we want, and obviously, the regular season championship is a good way to do that. Those 15 points are huge. I would love to have them, and we’re going to strive to achieve that as well,” Chase Elliott explained.
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Justin P Joy
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