NASCAR CUP SERIES
BANK OF AMERICA ROVAL 400
CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY ROAD COURSE
TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT
OCTOBER 7, 2021
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 1LE, Teleconference Transcript Highlights:
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT 2019 WHEN YOU HIT THE BARRIER IN TURN 1 AND CAME BACK TO WIN AT THE ROVAL?
“Yeah, it was a wild day, for sure. Looking back on that, it’s like things are going really good, and then I thought our day was over, and just barely had enough time to get back up front. I got super fortunate. Obviously, the car wasn’t hurt too bad. I think that was probably the biggest thing of the day was just the angle that I hit and the amount of barrier that was soft at that particular spot. I mean it wasn’t like I planned all that, you know. I just got super fortunate on how it worked out. The car wasn’t hurt, and we had enough time to fight back up through there and have a shot. Obviously, a mistake, a very large mistake; and fortunately, it was not bad enough to end the run. Yeah, a wild one, no doubt.”
WHAT IS IT THAT YOU LOVE ABOUT THE ROVAL, EVEN AT THE BEGINNING WHEN EVERYBODY THOUGHT IT WAS REALLY CRAZY?
“We’ve had a good road course package I feel like for the last few years and yeah, for whatever reason, we just kind of hit on a good package there at Charlotte. They’re all similar. But we tweak things here and there and kind of landed in a really good spot for the last couple of races. Who knows how it’s going to go this weekend? I’m sure everybody is going to be better again. But, looking forward to it. Obviously, it’s a very unique track. Very different. It’s a road course in an area that wasn’t necessarily meant for a road course, really, for kind of what we do. But it’s turned out to be an entertaining event. And I think the reason it’s entertaining is because the track is in a very confined area. And when you have something in a confined area, you don’t have a lot of runoff room for mistakes or there’s just nowhere to go. And at a lot of road courses, there are. You have, for instance, think about Turn 1 at Charlotte versus Turn 1 at Watkins Glen, right. You overshoot Turn 1 at Watkins Glen, and you have a football field there to figure out your problem and correct it and go on down the road. Whereas at Charlotte, you’re going to hit something that’s really just the bottom line. And that’s really the case for the entire track. There’s really nowhere to go. And the grassy areas typically are in turns and they lead to walls and it’s just a very unforgiving place and has created a lot of entertainment. Hopefully we’re solid and we can move forward there at the start, try to get some Stage points, and fight for the win.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE NINE POINTS GOING IN? IT’S GOOD TO BE ABOVE THE CUTLINE, BUT THAT’S NOT A LOT OF BREATHING SPACE
“Well, it could always be worse, right? So, you kind of take it for what it is. A situation is a situation. You can’t change it at this point, so try to make the most of it. Again, I think for us, Stage points are going to be super valuable. They are valuable for everyone. And we all know that. We’ve known that for years now. We have to be aware of that. You also have to be aware of the guys who are kind of out of reach on making it in on points. They’re going to call a different race than the guys that need Stage points. Road courses typically lend to drivers and teams jumping Stages to allow them a better track position location for the following Stage or the final Stage or for the second Stage. And that’s going to be hard to do, frankly, for guys who need the points. So, you’re going to have different races being called, all kind of within one event. When you have different strategies, it’s going to make it fun to watch. It’s going to make it fun to be a part of. A lot of stuff is going to be going on. So, I’m looking forward to it. For me, it’s one of those situations where, much like, like I always say, if you ever get to that last race, the cutoff race anyway, so you better enjoy the moment. You better like having your back against the wall, and have to perform, because if you ever want to win, that’s how it’s going to be. I’m looking forward to it and excited for the opportunity.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT WINNING THREE IN A ROW? JUST HOW HARD IS THAT TO DO, AND WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT GETTING THAT DONE?
“Well, it’s definitely really hard to do. It’s hard to win in general. So yeah, I think we can go and have a shot at doing that. I think we can go and get Stage points and I think we can vie for the win, as well. I don’t see why all that stuff is not achievable. I think it’s very much within reach. We have to go perform at a high level, execute a solid race, and I think if we do our part and do all the things I know we are capable of, I think we can check all the boxes. So, that’s what I’m going for.”
FROM WHAT YOU ARE SAYING, IT SEEMS LIKE YOU’RE GOING TO BE MIRED IN TRAFFIC AT THE START OF THE SECOND AND FINAL STAGES. WHAT ARE THE KEYS TO AVOID CALAMITY WHEN YOU’RE TRYING TO GET THROUGH TRAFFIC AT THE ROVAL?
“Yeah, you know, there are going to be different strategies and you’re definitely going to be in traffic. For us, I’m not exactly sure where we’re going to start. Somewhere around 10th, I would assume. But somewhere in that region. But yeah. There’s going to be different strategies all day long. You have guys who are out of the Playoffs, who, I don’t want to say they don’t care about the points, but they’re looking to try to win the race. You have guys that are that are not too far back on points to worry about Stage points. There are going to be a ton of different strategies going on. The best thing you can do is be fast, and have pace, and if you have pace, your options typically are much more abundant than when you don’t. So, hopefully we have pace and if that’s the case, then I think we’ll be fine.”
YOU START 8TH. DOES THE FACT THAT YOU DIDN’T KNOW WHERE YOU START, IS THAT YOUR NORMAL APPROACH? IS IT MORE ABOUT JUST TAKING WHAT COMES?
“Well, there’s nothing I can do about it, right? Typically, I find out, the (Dawsonville) Pool Room has a sign, here in town, and they are kind enough to put the starting position of where we start each week, so typically when I drive through town going to the office or going to the airport, I get to see where we start. It’s kind of an exciting thing for me. I get to roll through town and see where we start and kind of check in on what’s going on, and that’s a good little bit of information on the drive in. It’s not that I don’t care or that I don’t want to have a good starting spot. Of course, I do. I want to go and have a good run. But it’s one of those things where I can’t do anything about it after the previous race, so it kind of is what it is. This weekend, much like any other week, especially through the Playoffs, I think you have to enjoy each shot. Getting to that Final Four and having a shot to race for the championship, you’re in a must win and a must perform situation there, so the more you enjoy these moments of not having a lot of breathing room, not having a lot of buffers points-wise, not having a win to carry you through; all those things are better preparing you for an opportunity at a championship if you get in that Final Four. So, I personally like it. It has me excited to go to the race track and looking forward to the opportunity.”
YOU CAME FROM WAY BACK IN THE TWO WINS YOU’VE HAD AT THE ROVAL. HOW DO YOU GET THROUGH THOSE DIFFICULT OR PANIC-INDUCED MOMENTS AND NOT GET IN TROUBLE TRYING TO COME BACK THROUGH THE PACK? HOW HAVE YOU LEARNED TO DO THAT?
“It’s a challenging place, like I said. There’s just not a lot of forgiveness at that particular course. There’s nowhere to go if you make a mistake or run off course or whatever. It’s definitely a really fine balance. Again, coming back to having pace. Fortunately, the last couple of years we’ve had good pace. And when you have that, I think you’re able to make smarter decisions and be able to have confidence in moving forward. I think it comes back to that. If we can have good pace and the car does what I want it to do, then I can extract everything out of it, I think our options are definitely more abundant and we can have a solid day.”
ALSO, YOU REFERENCED THE DIFFERENT RACES THAT WILL POTENTIALLY TAKE PLACE SUNDAY. HOW MUCH BIG PICTURE AND HOW MUCH SMALL PICTURE ARE YOU LOOKING AT IN THOSE TYPES OF SITUATIONS?
“You don’t want to sit there and count points, right? But at the same time, you certainly want to be aware of what’s going on, at least leading it. And that’s kind of my approach. I’m like look, you know, we don’t have ton of butter. But the best way to get points is to go and win the Stages. They offer 10 points to win each Stage and that’s a lot. So, I would like to have both of those and would certainly like to have another sticker. So, my goal is to retrieve all three.”
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