“It was a lot of fun”: Chase Elliott enjoyed NASCAR’s Cup Series race at Bristol

Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott has reflected upon his season-best finish at the NASCAR Cup Series race in Bristol.

The fifth race on the 2024 Cup Series schedule- the Food City 500 got wrapped up with Denny Hamlin sealing his maiden victory of the season. Ryan Blaney became the polesitter at the 500-lap dash but couldn't convert the same into a race win and settled at P16.

The first two stages of the caution-riddled race saw Ty Gibbs reign supreme. However, the 21-year-old fell shy of acing the final 250-lap stage, finishing P9.

Chase Elliott's lackluster footing into the current season witnessed zero top-10 finishes, but the Georgian native broke that streak with his P8 spot at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Shortly after coming home with the best finish until now, the HMS driver divulged his performance, outlining the "fun" part of it.

Nearly a week after criticizing no visible improvements in the short track package for Phoenix, Elliott shared his car-related experience with motorsports journalist Dustin Long (via X):

"It was a lot of fun. I think there's probably a little better balance somewhere there, but I had a good time."

Chase Elliott dives deeper into the horsepower problem as he outlines the prime factor behind the issue

The debate surrounding increasing the horsepower of the stock cars has seen a plethora of drivers advocating their opinions about the cause and action. To curb the hunger for horsepower, NASCAR devised a short-track package for the NextGen cars.

With a smaller diffuser, fewer planks, and a 3-inch tall rear spoiler, the idea was to make the race difficult at low speeds as low downforce will give a tough time to the drivers and enhance the adrenaline rush of the race. However, the package received massive backlash from several drivers.

One among them was Chase Elliott, who, ahead of his 500-lap run at Bristol, shed light on the technical aspects that are robbing the much-needed HP from the high-octane engines. In a pre-race conversation with motorsports journalist Bob Pockrass, the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion detailed the reason behind the improper utilization of horsepower.

The 29-year-old's view was shared by Pockrass on his X (formerly Twitter) account:

"I donow from what little bit of knowledge I do have on engines is that the way that we run these engines with a tapered spacer, we're making them about as inefficient as you can possibly make them. These things unrestricted would have more power."