After epic Showdown, Chase Elliott makes popular move to All-Star field

Rea White

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After epic Showdown, Chase Elliott makes popular move to All-Star field image

Chase Elliott took a long path to a berth in Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. 

Elliott was runner-up in two segments of the Sprint Showdown — a win in either would have locked him into the field — including through an epic battle in the final lap overall. 

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His car banged up, his fans pumped by the style of racing he brought to that final 10-lap shootout, Elliott was almost immediately announced as the winner of the Sprint Fan Vote and, therefore, a berth in the race after all. 

That set him up for an afternoon of waiting for his shot at the premier event. Only two rookies have ever won the all-star race — Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2000 and Ryan Newman in 2002.

If Elliott races like he did Saturday morning, he could make a run at adding his name to the slim list. 

Elliott stormed through the field in the final segment, grabbing positions easily early before moving into contention for the win. He led the opening segment until Trevor Bayne caught him at the line and was now running down Kyle Larson in the third. Elliott moved to Larson’s outside, then was slammed between Larson’s car and the wall. He kept pushing, giving up the lead right before the line to finish second in that segment. 

“I knew Chase [Elliott] was going to be good on four tires and he was going to win the fan vote and I probably wasn’t going to win the fan vote,” said Larson, who a week ago was lauded for his clean racing against Matt Kenseth as they battled for the Dover win. “So, I did what I could do.”
 
The battle was the kind of racing fans long to see — and what racing with no points on the line can do to the sport. 

“Chase got to my inside there with 2 [laps] to go and I was able to run him pretty hard there and get him loose and was hoping I could hold him off to the checkered,” Larson said. “I knew he’d get close. I didn’t know he would get that close there coming to the line. 

“I had to squeeze him because I knew he was going to get the fan vote. He has a lot of fans. I knew Danica [Patrick] was going to get the fan vote also. And if Chase was to win, I wouldn’t be in. So, I had to do everything I could do to get to the start/finish line in first and luckily it paid off.”

MORE: Danica shows she's still popular | Blaney fans not thrilled after vote

His fans, though, carried the day and pushed the young driver into the premier event. 

While Elliott was pleased to make the race, he was disappointed not to have done so with a segment win — perhaps even more so after starting from the pole and coming so close twice. 

“Yeah, Kyle did what he had to do to beat us back to the line,” Elliott said. “We had a real good run. I hate to not race your way in. That’s pretty frustrating on my behalf. I just didn’t do a very good job. Regardless, it was great to have some great fans to get us in this race because I couldn’t get it done for us.”

With rain threatening in the area but the temperatures rising, Elliott was hesitant to draw comparisons between his run Saturday morning and what can be expected in the night-time all-star race. 

Elliott also pointed to the race as a learning session — one he plans not to exactly repeat in the all-star race. 

“Good to get some laps and know what not to do,” he said. “I messed some things up pretty big there.”

Rea White