"I just need to do a better job again" - Chase Elliott describes what went wrong after his P2 finish at Ambetter 301

NASCAR’s Ambetter 301 in New Hampshire is now a wrap, and Chase Elliott posted another impressive finish after scoring a clean second place. This marked his fourth consecutive racing weekend to place a top two finish and fifth consecutive top 10 finish.

This comes after he encountered a rough month in May where he only scored two top 10 finishes. So far, Elliott is one of the few top-notch drivers who have shown consistency this season, leading in almost all sectors from the drivers’ standings to the number of wins.

Despite recording a spectacular finish in New Hampshire, the Georgia-born driver feels like he underperformed on the last lap. He believes this lap could have helped him clinch his fourth season win and second consecutive win. He also felt that for a driver of his caliber, he was in the proper position to wrap up the race with a win, but he didn’t.

Speaking on what went wrong at the end during a post-race interview, Chase Elliott cited how he felt like it was a poor run of execution on his end for the entire last lap. He said:

“I just need to do a better job again. The same conversation as Road America, unfortunately. I feel like it was a poor run of execution on my end throughout that last run. I feel like it took me a while to get past Joey (Logano) and the #45 (Kurt Busch), and I had to run a little harder than I wanted to. I got in front of those guys, just made a couple of mistakes and couldn’t get much breathing room”.

He went on to add, saying:

“Christopher (Bell) did a good job. Congrats to those guys. They’ve been close to winning, so that’s cool. Obviously for us, we were in a position where guys at this level really should close out a race if you have the lead like that, so just poor effort on my part.”

Chase Elliott lined up for the 2022 Ambetter 301 race as one of the top contenders to win the race considering his starting position. The #9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro driver began the day in the outer lane of the first row, a perfect position to shut the race.

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How did Chase Elliott perform at New Hampshire Motor Speedway?

The first stage didn’t go well for Chase Elliott as he failed to maintain his position, losing it to the 23XI driver, Bubba Wallace Jr. Elliott, on the other hand, dropped to P4 at the end of the first stage.

He the began gaining momentum in second place, working his way up to try to take the lead. It was a pretty difficult task for him, however, since Martin Truex Jr. held it tight, but he ended up placing 3rd, finishing behind Kevin Harvick in the second stage.

In the third and the final stage to complete the 301-lap race, Elliott had no other option other than putting more effort into his #9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Being the final lap, all drivers pushed hard to ensure they got to the victory lane before everyone else.

Elliott ended up having a tight battle with Joey Logano and Kurt Busch, the race leader, with 60 laps to the checkered ground. With 54 laps remaining, he made contact with Busch, clearing him and taking the lead while Bell took second place. With 42 laps remaining, Bell overpowered him by taking the lead and holding it to the victory lane.