Chase Elliott finished 32nd in the Cup Series race at Watkins Glen after reportedly running out of fuel with 36 laps remaining.
It was a hard-to-believe moment for Elliott and his team, especially in a race where victory was essential for him. Elliott was left stranded on track after running out of fuel, which was the result of a major communication error.
Fellow NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin was also perplexed by the incident and blamed Elliott's entire crew for the error, questioning how it could have happened. He shared his opinion on this incident in a recent episode of his podcast, Actions Detrimental.
"I just find it so extremely bizarre, not Chase, not Alan, or not anyone that heard that communication multiple times did not raise their hands and say, ‘Are we sure our math is correct? Because it is three times worse than it should be. There is no way, he’d be lucky to go a lap.'”
Because of the error and a number of other aspects, Chase Elliott now has a win-or-go-home situation at Daytona in terms of the playoffs. It will be exciting to watch the NASCAR Cup Series champion compete for his place in the playoffs. He will have to have an all-or-nothing approach for it.
It's do-or-die for Chase Elliott going into Daytona this weekend
The Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday is a must-win race now for Chase Elliott to make another postseason run.
Elliott shared his thoughts on the upcoming challenge:
“To show up there and be in a must-win situation is like going to Vegas and having to hit the nearest slot machine for the jackpot, that’s just silly." (via FoxSport)
In the Daytona 500 race in 2016 and 2017, Elliott won two pole positions. He became the youngest Daytona 500 pole sitter in history when he took the lead in 2016. Later, he was able to win his third pole position at the track for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 in 2018.