Chase Elliott makes his clear animosity known about Daytona 500’s qualifying format: “It’s so frustrating sometimes”

During the team media day leading up to the Daytona 500, Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott voiced his concerns about the race's qualifying format. He mentioned that the single-car qualifying format made him frustrated while waiting for his turn.

Qualifying for 'The Great American Race' is unlike any other on the circuit. The format includes two rounds of single-car qualifying to set the front row of the race and a pair of 60-lap Duel races to set the rest of the field.

Each driver runs one timed lap on the 2.5-mile circuit, and the top 10 drivers compete for the pole position. Then the two fastest drivers secure the front row for the race, and the rest compete in the Duel to lock their position for the 500-mile race. The qualifying for the race began on February 12, 2025, and is a time-intensive event.

Reflecting upon the subject, Chase Elliott expressed his vexation over the format and stated (via Speedway Digest):

"It's so frustrating sometimes because, like, we're sitting down there in line, you know, and some people were trying to get a nice gap, and then there were other people trying to fill the gap and are rushing. So there's always that element to making single-car runs."

"Just getting impatient sitting down there and wanting to go. I understand that, but that's the most confusing element. Outside of that, I think it's pretty standard ops, really," he added.

The former NASCAR Cup Series champion drove the #9 Chevy Camaro ZL1 in round one of the qualifying session and finished in 15th place with a best time of 49.538 seconds.

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“It could ruin your year”: Chase Elliott on NASCAR's new rule for the 2025 season

Recently, former Xfinity Series champion Chase Elliott raised his concerns about the updated playoff waiver rule for the 2025 season. He featured in an interview with NASCAR analyst Bob Pockrass where he mentioned that the new rule wouldn't be a perfect solution for every possible scenario.

The updated rules state that drivers who require a waiver for non-medical emergencies, including attending the birth of their child and dealing with family emergencies, will lose all their playoff points. Additionally, the drivers will not earn any playoff points after the waiver is granted.

Reflecting upon the new rule, Chase Elliott told Pockrass:

"But to your point, you want to try and think through things before something happens, right? But for anyone to think that's going to solve everything in every situation probably isn't true, but certainly, it's like a good way to make you think twice because it could ruin your year if you're having a good year prior to that. So, I would like to think that myself and everyone else would be smart enough to recognize that going into it, hopefully." (0:35 onwards)

Elliott also reflected upon his teammate, Kyle Larson's drama with NASCAR from last year. Larson missed the Coca-Cola 600 race while competing in the Indy 500. Under the new rule, Larson would have lost all the playoff points he gathered before the Charlotte race.