Chase Elliott has revisited his EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix performance at the Circuit of the Americas. After a shaky start, he made up significant ground in later laps to finish just shy of a podium finish. Now, he is eager to build on this performance in Phoenix.
Chase Elliott Looking Forward to Phoenix Challenge
Elliott said he is happy with a top-five finish but has been making poor starts this year.
The 29-year-old staged an impressive recovery at COTA after an early setback involving Ross Chastain. His car bumped with Chastain’s and he nearly spun out of the track. But he steadied his vehicle afterward and launched a late assault that brought him close to victory.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver shared his thoughts on the race and expressed his anticipation for the upcoming event at Phoenix Raceway on his X account, captioning the post, “Still waitin’ on a clean day, but we’ll take P4 at COTA. See y’all in PHX.”
Still waitin’ on a clean day, but we’ll take P4 at COTA. See y’all in PHX 🏜️👊🏼 pic.twitter.com/evMj9sKZ0Y
— Chase Elliott (@chaseelliott) March 3, 2025
Elliott Addresses Ross Chastain Incident
Although he started the race from the second row, Elliott was sent to the back of the pack after contact with Chastain left his car damaged. He addressed the incident during a post-race interview with Reagan Smith.
"It's the first lap of the dang race."
Chase Elliott talks with @ReganSmith after a tough start to the day at COTA. https://t.co/vfYJYASg1j pic.twitter.com/mB8TdqUABM
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 3, 2025
“I hadn’t seen it, you know. So I don’t want to, I don’t want to comment yet, but just, you know, first lap of the dang race, right? But just frustrating to just fall behind there. Early, we had damage toe knocked out in the back, and Alan and Matt, everybody did a great job fixing it and getting us in a good position, and fell behind there on that restart and was really just playing catch-up.” Elliot said.
“So I thought we got our Napa Chevy back in a reasonable place. I mean, who knows? I would like to say I would love to be in the mix, right? Easy thing to say when you have a bad day,” Elliott continued.
With his championship standings in mind, Elliott felt he was forced to play catch-up throughout the race, striving to earn as many points as possible.
