Ross Chastain turned Chase Elliott in the championship race at Phoenix Raceway
On Sunday, Phoenix Raceway hosted the NASCAR Cup Series championship. Four drivers entered the race with a shot at the championship. Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain were two of those drivers and they made contact during the event.
On lap 199, Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain restarted bumper to bumper on the inside lane. Elliott was on the third row inside with Chastain right behind him.
As they entered the dogleg, Chastain looked inside of Elliott and had plans of cutting the dogleg completely, a common move at the track. Moments later, Elliott turned left.
Elliott spun himself across the nose of Chastain. Yet, Chastain had the option to lift, he didn’t. Instead, he sent the No. 9 for a spin.
Elliott slid backwards through the dogleg. He made contact with the wall on the right front. The damage was enough to bend the steering wheel due to suspension parts being broken.
No. 9 radio, “He just wrecked us.”
Chase Elliott asked over the radio, “I mean, did I do something wrong there?”
The crew responded, “No bud. I don’t know what to tell you. These guys race that way all the time.”
The crew went to work, bending back the parts that they could. Elliott was able to make minimum speed. However, race leader Ryan Blaney passed him, putting him on the track two laps down. During every caution that followed, the team would make attempts to repair the car.
When Chastain came around to lap Elliott, the crew stated, “Keep an eye on the No. 9.”
Elliott tucked in right behind the bumper of Chastain with 75 laps to go. However, no contact or retaliation was made.
Phoenix Race Results: November 6, 2022 (NASCAR Cup Series)
Chase Elliott comments on the contact with Ross Chastain
“Yeah, I’m not sure. I’m not sure,” Elliott stated from the media center of the contact.
“Looking forward to the off-season, and really proud of our team for the fight that we put in today. I felt like we just kind of peaked right there before we crashed, and I felt like we got our car driving pretty good, we just had our best pit stop of the day, so that was all really solid. And heck, we were right there next to the 22.”
“I thought we had a shot at it all the way up until we didn’t, and that’s unfortunately the way it goes sometimes.”
“Yeah, just disappointed, obviously, ended our day and ended our chance at a win or a championship. Just disappointing.”
Elliott was asked what he thinks of next season.
“Yeah, I don’t really care about 2023 right now. We had five wins on the season, and we had — you tell me what the stats are. That’s how you would assess it, right? I know we won five races. That’s more than we did last year.”
“But do not tell me what the countdown clock is because I don’t want to know.”
Chase Elliott opposes the NASCAR wall ride move from Ross Chastain
Ross Chastain comments
“With the 9 I felt like I got position on him, to the left side, the dogleg, and he turned left,” Ross Chastain stated from the media center after the race.
“I had a really good run. I have a feeling William didn’t get going as well as he wanted to.” Chastain added, “I got to the left of him and I saw an erratic move by him to turn left and cover it. I was already there.”
“Look, it’s not how I want to race him. It’s not what I want to do but I feel like I had position on him. He tried to cover it, late.”
Ross Chastain comments on if NASCAR should make a ‘wall ride’ rule
