Chase Elliott 'would have loved a shot' at Kyle Larson late at Sonoma

Chase Elliott was satisfied with a top five at Sonoma Raceway, but he felt like he had something for his teammate and the eventual race-winner in Kyle Larson on Sunday.

While Elliott has the reputation as a master road-course racer, it was Larson who conquered the field in California, capturing his third victory of the season. The win also catapulted him to the lead in both the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Standings and overall Cup Series standings, even with missing the Coca-Cola 600.

Regardless, Elliott’s had a nice bounce-back season, winning at Texas Motor Speedway, and currently in second to Larson’s lead in the overall Cup Series standings. After the race, he spoke about the missed opportunity of not getting to Larson, although he was happy with his P4 finish at Sonoma.

Chase Elliott finished fourth at Sonoma. He would have liked to have had a shot at Kyle Larson at the end but got too far behind earlier in the event. pic.twitter.com/DJkf2WMMq4

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) June 10, 2024

“I think he was a little better,” Elliott said, regarding his Hendrick Motorsports teammate’s Chevrolet on Sunday afternoon, via FOX’s Bob Pockrass. “Obviously, would’ve loved a shot, but I just got too far behind anyway.

“I don’t think I was as fast as he was, but thought we had a really solid car, and in the mix, for sure. But just lost too much time. You’re not going to make up that much ground, when you fall that far behind.”

At the least, Elliott recognizes there was one or two things he could’ve done differently on Sunday, but his run was as sweet as his No. 9 Chevrolet looked on Sunday, as a P4 finish isn’t anything to complain about most times.

Still, it’s evident Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson are competitive as ever, even as teammates at Hendrick Motorsports. It could come down to these two when it’s all said and done, and it’ll be fascinating to see who gets the better of one another if that’s the case in November.

Kyle Larson on Sonoma strategy: ‘I didn’t know what we were doing’

Don’t ask Kyle Larson about strategies, all he does is drive the car. The driver talked about his lack of knowledge after his big Sonoma win. Then again, when you have Cliff Daniels on the pit box, you don’t need to worry about strategy as a NASCAR driver. 

Crew chiefs and drivers each have their own quirks and tasks on race day. Some drivers like to know more about the car than others, and there are some who even like to weigh in on how the cars are set up. 

That is not how Kyle Larson operates. It is his job to drive and listen to Cliff Daniels, not do the math in his own head. 

“Yeah I was, I didn’t know what we were doing as far as strategy you know I was just out there banging laps away,” Larson said after the race. “I don’t know, we study all the strategy but it’s like doing homework, I don’t know what I’m looking at. 

“So yeah I was like, ‘Well, man these guys have to pit another time maybe.’ But then we said we had to go race and pass those guys I got a bit nervous. I knew I would be quick from the get-go but I thought once the tires would come up to temp it would even off too much.”

Kyle Larson puts his trust into Cliff Daniels and it pays off almost on a weekly basis. This is the 20th time that the two have won together since Larson moved to Hendrick Motorsports. They are far from done, too. 

On3’s Jonathan Howard contributed to this article.