Chase Elliott delivers a hot take on Kyle Busch, William Byron, and Christopher Bell’s intense ‘duking’ in COTA

Chase Elliott has dropped a hot take on the 'respectful' racing between Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell, and William Byron at the Circuit of The Americas. The trio engaged in an intense late-race battle, however, unlike the Daytona and Talladega races, the 95-lap event concluded with clean racing.

The EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix marked the season's first road course race, and Joe Gibbs Racing's Bell won for the second time in a row, following his triumph at the Atlanta Superspeedway. But before etching his name as the 2025 Cup Series season's first road course race winner, the #20 Toyota driver faced stiff competition from Byron and Busch.

The back-and-forth pursuit began after the Lap 83 restart, with Busch's #8 Chevy and Byron's #24 Chevy resuming on the front row. Bell made multiple attempts to overtake Busch. He failed several times before eventually seizing the lead on Lap 91.

In the meantime, Byron also joined the battle, looking for room to make moves. Despite keeping his Chevy close to the two, he avoided making contact with either of the rivals. From when the fight for the win began on the restart to Bell securing victory, the trio raced clean and didn't turn the action into a wreck fest.

Chase Elliott, who finished fourth and witnessed the adrenaline-packed action live, admired the drivers. The 2020 Cup Series champion stated that the 'respectful' racing between Richard Childress Racing's Busch, his teammate Byron, and Bell sets a 'great example' for the motorsports community.

"That right there is a great example of three very respectful, talented race car drivers duking it out for the win without crashing each other. It was awesome to watch," Elliott said via Frontstretch (0:40).

While Christopher Bell and William Byron finished 1-2, Kyle Busch fell to a fifth-place outcome.

Chase Elliott sends a clear message after Ross Chastain's move nearly derailed his COTA race

Chase Elliott started the race from third and posted a fourth-place finish at the newly reconfigured 2.3-mile circuit. However, the elusive feat didn't come without its challenges, something the #9 Chevy driver encountered on the opening lap, rendering his second-row start ineffective.

As the race went green, Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace took charge of the pack, but as the NextGen machines steered through Turn 1, Ross Chastain bumped his #1 Trackhouse Racing Chevy into Elliott's #9 Chevy, causing the HMS driver to spin and damaging the toe link.

Nonetheless, Elliott and his crew's remarkable job put the Camaro back in the fight. And as the third Cup Series race weekend neared its conclusion, the Georgian piloted his ride among the frontrunners. Still, he was frustrated with Chastain's move because the ordeal transpired on the opening lap.

"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," Chase Elliott said via FOX: NASCAR (00:13 onwards).

The Hendrick Motorsports ace will be next seen at the Phoenix Raceway, ranked fifth.