"It was a big gamble for him": Chase Elliott resisted downplaying Tyler Reddick's 'aggressive' driving that led to horrific Las Vegas crash

Sunday's playoff race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway found Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott, and reigning Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney getting involved in a terrible crash. Elliott, who drives the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro for Hendrick Motorsports, recalled how it happened during a post-race interview with journalist Bob Pockrass.

As Reddick ran on the outside on lap 90, Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. closed in around his Toyota, forcing him to get pushed into the wall coming off of Turn 4. Reddick's car slid into the frontstretch grass and flipped. Blaney and RFK Racing owner, Brad Keselowski, were caught in the mayhem as well. Chase Elliott told Pockrass during the interview.

"There wasn't a lot of room there; I certainly understand. There was not a lot of room in the corner at that point in the race. That was a big gamble for him to bank on me recognizing Martin and recognizing that he had a big run up top. There was probably no way that Martin could see that you know, that late." (1:04)

Only two races remain in the Round of 8 following the 267-lap event at LVMS. After that, the field for the coveted Championship 4 race will be decided. Situations like these are common when the stakes are that high.

"It was aggressive for sure (but) who am I to say? We're trying to race for the Championship," Elliott added.

While Martin Truex Jr. delivered a top-10 finish, Elliott, Blaney, Reddick, and Keselowski ended up 32nd or worse. For Reddick, it was his third DNF of the season. He was later evaluated and released from the infield care center.

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"It was too late"- Chase Elliott acquits himself of blame following wild Las Vegas wreck

In the same interview with Pockrass, Chase Elliott explained that he had tried to get out of the situation when he saw Reddick making the aggressive run. However, Martin Truex Jr. didn't realize exactly where Reddick was running in traffic.

"The 45 (Tyler Reddick) was coming with a really big run up top and I don't think Martin knew that. He was kind of running as if we were two-wide and once I recognized there wasn't going to be enough room, I tried to bail...maybe there was just nowhere to bail. It was too late." (0:00)

Here is the official footage via NASCAR that shows the wreck:

Martin Truex Jr., however, felt that there was enough room for Elliott at the time. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was not sure how the wreck happened or why Elliott lifted all of a sudden.

"I'm not sure... we were kind of close together and the #9 lifted all of a sudden, and I'm not really sure what happened," Truex Jr. told Frontstretch. "Still felt like there was plenty of room in the #9, things jumped out of the gas, I'm not really sure what happened. That's about all."

Reddick and Elliott are currently on the bubble with a respective 30 and a 53-point deficit. The drivers will now prepare for next week's race at Homestead-Miami, which will feature on NBC on October 27th, 2:30 pm ET onwards.