Chase Elliott blames himself for not executing on decisive restart

As one of NASCAR’s young stars celebrated his first career Sprint Cup victory, another blamed himself for not winning his first race Sunday at Michigan International Speedway.

Twenty-year-old rookie Chase Elliott was maintaining a comfortable lead over Kyle Larson, 24, in the closing laps of the Pure Michigan 400, seemingly poised to earn his maiden series win. Such an advantage became negated, however, when Michael Annett slowed to bring out a caution and set up a decisive restart with nine laps remaining.

That put Elliott and Larson side-by-side for ensuing restart, and although both spun their tires when the green flag waved, Larson was able to regain control quickly while Elliott continued to sputter. Larson then sped away, building up a gap Elliott couldn’t overcome.

Afterward, as Larson rejoiced having finally won in what was his 99th career start, Elliott couldn’t help but lament what he could have done to finish one position better.

“Just a better restart, that was what it was all about for sure,” Elliott said. “Once (Larson) got out front it was really hard to pass.

“My guys did such a good job today of making the most of pit road. ... They did exactly what I asked them to do. I said, ‘You guys are going to have to bail me out here, I messed up.’ They did, they got us the lead just like I asked and I gave it away again.”

Compounding Elliott’s frustration, it was the second Michigan race in a row where a late restart stymied him. In June, he was bettered by eventual winner Joey Logano. Just as he did Sunday, Elliott finished second.

“That’s a couple races in a row in just a few short months here at this place we had a really good car, had an opportunity,” Elliott said. “That’s one thing I try really hard to do is make the most of opportunities when they’re presented. Obviously, I didn’t do a very good job of that here both trips.

“Need to do my restarts a little better. That’s obviously not a strong point, at least here at Michigan.”

Despite how it ended, Michigan represented a nice turnaround for Elliott, who entered the weekend having gone eight consecutive races without a top-10 finish. He now has seven top-five and 12 top-10 finishes on the year, tops among all rookies. He is also in sound position to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup playoffs, 27 points ahead of the provisional cutoff with two regular season races remaining.

Still, Elliott, the son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, badly wants to win. And as he has throughout his freshman season, Chase Elliott blames himself for not already doing so. When asked by reporter if he was “frustrated” or “disappointed,” the Hendrick Motorsports driver said, “Yeah, all the above.”

“If I wasn’t, that would mean I didn’t care,” Elliott said. “For me, just have to try to take the positives out of it, recognize an issue when you see one. There’s only one way to fix it, and that’s to hit it head on. No need of hiding from it. Just try to fix it. Hope you have more opportunities to improve and to show that you can do it down the road.”