“If it doesn’t work out, then it’s your own fault” - When Chase Elliott made his clear verdict known about NASCAR’s breakthrough change

Chase Elliott gave his take on NASCAR's major change in the 2020 season, and was very clear in his agreement. That season, the sanctioning body brought aboard the "choose rule" across all three Series, Cup, Xfinity, and Truck. The idea was to intensify strategizing during the cautions to capitalize on the restarts and prevent manipulators from taking the undeserved spot.

A similar rule was in practice before 2020, but it only gave the race leader the option to choose the inside or outside lane. The new rule, however, grants every odd-placed driver, through last place, the leeway to select a desired lane. The sorting begins during the last lap of the caution, at the yellow painted 'V' shape beyond the start/finish line, and any driver failing to select his or her lane would end up in a rear-of-the-field start penalty.

Following NASCAR's announcement of the major change, Chase Elliott expressed his feelings, emphasizing such a change was long pending. He said (via NASCAR),

“I think the choose rule’s been needed for a long time. I don’t think there’s really a reason to not have it. There’s no reason to me why you shouldn’t have the choice or you should be automatically told where you’re going to line up when one lane has an obvious advantage, just based on where you come off pit road."

A major reason behind the "choose rule" was to prevent drivers who deliberately slowed and even stopped on the pit road for a favorable track position during the restart. With the "choose rule," drivers who are on pit road during the choosing process are barred from opting for a lane.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver outlined that it would take the blame off the pit roads for manipulating results.

“(It) just makes way more sense to put it in our hands and it either works out for you or it doesn’t. If it doesn’t work out, then it’s your own fault and not luck of the draw and where you come off pit road.”

The "choose rule" has been prevalent in grassroots racing for a long time.

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Not only Chase Elliott but Joey Logano also heaped praise on the 'choose rule'

Before implementing the rule for the points-paying races, the sanctioning body tried it during the All-Star Open and the All-Star Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway. The response was overwhelmingly positive, prompting NASCAR to make it the default in all three Series.

However, the 'choose rule' is not practiced on road courses and superspeedways. Road courses generally don't have an actual full lap left when one lap is remaining while superspeedway's broad track and high-speed design allow manufacturers and teams to work even more closely, thus instigating NASCAR to make exceptions for road courses and superspeedways.

Not only Chase Elliott but Joey Logano also lauded the rule change when it was implemented. Speaking to NBC, the Team Penske driver expressed it would address the issue of drivers roadblocking the pit road. He said (via NASCAR),

“It definitely adds another piece to the strategy. And even more importantly, it has everyone not doing the whole stopping at the end of pit road and letting a car go by because, for one, it’s not safe to stop at the end of pit road for anyone jumping over the wall and having cars swerve like that.

The first season with the "choose rule" also became the season when Chase Elliott finally lifted his maiden Cup Series trophy. After consecutive playoff exits since his rookie season in 2016, the HMS driver posted five wins, two consecutive in the last two battles, joining his father Bill Elliott as a Cup Series champion.