"I don’t think I could realistically ask for anything more" - Chase Elliott after P2 finish at NASCAR Bristol race

One playoff contender who had a decent showing at the 500-lap-long Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway was Chase Elliott. The Hendrick Motorsports driver managed to finish in the runner-up spot after Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing's Chris Buescher took the checkered flag in the first place.

The 26-year-old driver claimed to have enjoyed the setup his crew gave him on his #9 Hooters Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, which allowed Elliott to keep Buescher within sight. The Dawsonville, Georgia native, however, never got into touching distance of the #17 Ford Mustang driver to make a move for the lead. Passing other cars was difficult for Elliott as he elaborated post-race, along with his reasons behind his lane choices on track, and said:

“I actually really liked my car. I thought our Chevrolet was driving really good, and honestly, I don’t think I could realistically ask for anything more balance-wise. I just needed to be able to do a better job getting in some different lanes. And then being second there, the top had gotten so dominant there at the end. The bottom was pretty good there early in the night, and you could run down there for a long time, and then as the night went on the top got better and better and better, and that momentum was hard to beat.”

Chase Elliott also wished for some lapped traffic ahead of himself and Chris Buescher that might have helped him take the fight to the RFK Racing driver and said:

“We never got to any lapped traffic to make him move, but we were starting to there in those last three or four laps. I felt like we were gaining, but I wasn’t close enough to do anything with him. But I appreciate the effort. We had a long day yesterday. Was able to battle back from a bad qualifying effort to get a top 2, so proud of that.”

Elliott managed to bring home a fantastic result for himself and his team after a rocky start to the 2022 playoffs with a DNF at Darlington and a finish outside the top-10 at Kansas.

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Chase Elliott's thoughts on the Next Gen car's ability to level the Cup Series playing field

Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott was one driver who spoke about the Next Gen car and the ability to pass it brings after the Bass Pro Shops Night Race. The 26-year-old Cup Series driver believed the car would bring parity into the Cup Series in the future, and said:

“As time goes on, the more the OEMs and everybody pushes these things, that the people who have an advantage on paper right now, that advantage is gonna get smaller next year.”

Watch the complete interview below:

Watch Chase Elliott race next weekend at the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.