Chase Elliott walked slowly and dejectedly from the Daytona International Speedway infield care center, eyes hidden behind sunglasses, hands crammed deep into the pockets of his firesuit.
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Elliott’s previous encounters with the media here had been triumphant.
DAYTONA BEACH | Dale Earnhardt Jr. was loaded with optimism for the Daytona 500, given the performance of his No. 88 Chevrolet during race week.
I also need to mention how proud I am of my younger brother Ryan, who finished second in the truck race at Daytona on Friday night.
With a Hail Mary move, Denny Hamlin ended Joe Gibbs’ 23-year drought at the Daytona 500.
Chase Elliott replaced Jeff Gordon in the iconic No. 24 Chevrolet and put it on the pole for the 500, so Helton simply introduced his Hall of Fame father as “Chase’s dad”. “I was just trying to protect my spot and Joey was tough to keep behind me but this is just a great feeling to be in Victory Lane here at Daytona”. “Just turned around there off of 4. If you’ve got the talent and the desire, you can get here”, said Gossage, who is attending the Daytona 500 this week.
He lost control of the auto by himself, from the middle, and spun across the nose of the Carl Edwards Toyota and onto the entrance of pit road. “I hate it for everybody, at less than 20 laps in and have something dumb like that happen”.
However, handling was a problem all day at the Daytona International Speedway and it cost Earnhardt a top-10 finish with 31 laps to go, ending a dominating four-year streak in the Sprint Cup series opener. “This is Daytona” was a unique way to supplement the traditional “drivers start your engines” statement that is said before every race. I thought we were wrecked as I didn’t know if we were going to make it across the line. “We were freeing the vehicle up real, real big”.
It was a butt-busting day for Hendrick Motorsports.
Elliott eventually returned, but was 40 laps behind the leader. The top three cars are Toyotas. Elliott still ran in the lead draft until the spin. And when the race gets near the end, you probably will have to call a few audibles.
Elliott’s chance was over at the start. Enjoy this afternoon’s long awaited Daytona 500, and be sure to follow Beyond the Flag for Daytona 500 post-race coverage and all of your NASCAR-related news.
“It’s great to see both Busch brothers with a championship trophy”, Kurt said. He’s got a very, very good pulse on things. “We are looking forward to getting things going”.
It was a disappointing finish for Earnhardt, who had won a Can-Am Duel on Thursday and is widely considered the best restrictor-plate driver on the circuit.
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She’ll be forever treasured by Dale Earnhardt Jr., even though he wants nothing more than to give her away Sunday. “It’s disappointing. Now we’ll just look to Atlanta (the second race of the season)”.
