Chase Elliott dismisses pit road incident with Kyle Larson: 'No message'

Finishing P6 at Kansas, Chase Elliott felt like he got the most out of his car for the most part, but had a run-in with Kyle Larson. For those NASCAR fans who missed it, Larson had to move up into Elliott while they exited pit road as Brad Keselowski pulled out of his stall.

In response to the incidental contact, Chase Elliott put his door to Larson as they got back onto the track under caution. While Larson understood where Elliott was coming from, the No. 9 driver didn’t seem to want to talk about it at all.

Elliott even went over to Larson’s car after the race and had a chat with him. When asked about it by Bob Pockrass of Fox Sports, Elliott said he wasn’t sending a message.

“There was no message. No, no,” Elliott said, dismissing the moment.

Chase Elliott finished sixth on a solid day. What he said afterward and whether he was sending a message to Kyle Larson after the contact as they were exiting their pits. pic.twitter.com/zodqNJrwIF

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) September 11, 2023

Chase Elliott drove himself to a P6 finish after leading almost 50 laps on the day. It was perhaps his strongest performance since returning from injury. He led laps, picked up points, and arguably was in contention at the end of the race.

While he didn’t feel that his car was capable of catching Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick, Elliott did his best. That overtime restart was a little wild, but a P6 finish is another positive result for this driver and team.

Let’s not forget that Elliott is contending for the owners championship. He himself can’t win the Bill France Cup, but he can get his Hendrick Motorsports team a huge payday by winning the owners title.

Chase Elliott should make the Round of 12 for owners championship

Right now, Hendrick Motorsports has three teams in the top eight of the owners championship. Of course, Kyle Larson’s No. 5 team leads with their win at Darlington and the most overall points. They are followed by the 45 team fresh off their win at Kansas.

When we go down to 8th overall, it is the No. 9 team. They sit just 42 points away from the leaders and should have a good shot at making the Round of 8 as things stand now.

Of course, one bad race for the 9 and that goes away. Outside of the Watkins Glen fuel controversy, Elliott has been great in the last five weeks. P2 at Indy, P4 at Daytona, and P8 at Darlington. He’s a top-10 driver most weeks if not a top-5 driver.

Chase Elliot is trying to make the most of his situation. It might not end in a Bill France Cup and it might not even end with an owners championship. Building momentum to finish the season is huge as they get ready for the offseason in just two short months.