Chase Elliott admitted to a range of emotions after Sunday's Sprint Cup race — all of them stemming from his attempt at a late restart that left him finishing second.
On some days, that might be a finish worthy of enjoyment, but not for the 20-year-old stock car scion on this Sunday. It's the second time he finished second at Michigan in this, his rookie season. This time, it was Kyle Larson taking the checkered flag in his first career Cup win.
MORE: Welcome to the Chase, Kyle | Race results
Elliott frankly assessed his race — and his final restart — in the moments following the race.
"It’s one of those things where you do or you don’t and I didn’t," Elliott said. "You just got to recognize your mistakes, look at the positives I guess and move on down the road."
He appeared to be on the cusp of his first career Sprint Cup win. But, as he did in June at the track, he found a restart to be costly and settled for coming close. While the points from the race will keep him in good standing to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup field, that seemed to offer little consolation in the moments immediately following the race.
What did Elliott need on Sunday? Same thing he needed in June.
"Just a better restart again. That was what it was all about for sure," he 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. That was the only place you could make a large sum of ground in a short period of time. They did exactly what I asked them to do. They got us the lead just like I asked and I gave it away again."
Elliott, the son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott and newest driver in the Hendrick arsenal, has often been a factor in races this season.
Nowhere has that been more clear than at Michigan.
On Sunday, he led 31 laps and had a lead of more than two seconds before the final caution came out. Then he lined up beside Larson for the restart. With Ryan Blaney pushing Elliott and Brad Keselowski pushing Larson, both struggled to get going. Then Larson pulled ahead.
Elliott slipped to third before fighting back to his final finishing position.
He wasn't alone in having issues on that restart, though.
"We both spun our tires really bad," Larson said. "And, [Keselowski] pushed me really good. He could have probably pulled underneath me and went by. But he stayed with me and got me the lead."
As Elliott talked during the NBCSN broadcast after the race, he struggled to find the positives, though he said that he would use those going forward.
"You just hate to have an opportunity like that again, for a second time, and make the same mistake twice here in just a handful of months isn't ideal," he said. "I ought to know better at this point but as I proved today I didn't and I don't so I need to readjust my restarts, I guess, and … hopefully that will give us some opportunities down the road."
MORE: Complete Darlington race weekend schedule
Elliott is 27 points ahead of the cutoff in points — and could earn a win at Darlington and at Richmond, the final races before the Chase field is set.
Still, Sunday's circumstances were bothersome. Elliott didn't shy from admitting how he felt. But he also pointed out that being less-than-pleased after the setback showed his passion for the sport.
"If I wasn't that would mean I didn't care," he said. "For me you 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. So no need in hiding from it, just try to fix it and hope that you have more opportunities to improve and to show that you can do it down the road."