"It's kind of hard" - Chase Elliott discusses complexities of finding teammates on drafting tracks in next-gen era

The 2020 Cup Series champion Chase Elliott is likely looking forward to a drama-free Playoffs run this season. The Georgia-based driver took some time out from his hectic schedule to answer a few fan questions for Hendrick Motorsports on social media.

Despite a rough start to the 2024 season, Elliott kept pushing the limits with his #9 Chevrolet Camaro. Going through the data from the first five or six races, the team was able to correct several shortcomings with both the car and strategy.

This became evident from Bristol Motor Speedway onwards. The 29-year-old driver began finishing in the Top 10s more often since Bristol.

As the regular season reaches its final stages, HMS racers Chase Elliot and Alex Bowman took some time out to answer fan questions.

Both drivers opened up on whether it is easy to find a teammate on drafting tracks (Superspeedways), essentially to gain an advantage from the slipstream.

"It's kind of hard. Because you can't just snap your fingers and be next to your teammate. It's a little bit of a process," Elliot replied.

"On pit roads is where we can really help each other. Making sure we get on pit road, execute the pit stop, and obviously getting up to speed with your teammates or manufacturer partners or whatever it is. Typically it is that," he further added.

Bowman also shared his thoughts on the same situation.

"It's not as simple as finding each other. The lines don't move much as it used to. It's kind of almost gridlocked here, lately at speedways. So, working together is really important. But you can only do so much." he said, speaking of difficulties on speedways with modern cars.

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"Hated to mess up Ryan's day too" - Chase Elliott's apologetic response to Ryan Blaney for the last-lap tussle at Michigan

Both Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney were looking at a strong Top 10 finish for the FireKeepers Casino 400 race at Michigan International Speedway. However, a last-lap tussle between the two NASCAR Cup Series champions changed the results quite drastically.

At the second overtime restart on lap 204, Elliott and Blaney were placed fifth and sixth, respectively, on the grid. In an attempt to defend his position against the Team Penske driver, Elliott made a move to cover the outside line.

However, he misjudged the distance between them, causing a collision. To control their respective cars, both drivers lifted off the throttle, thereby losing several places to the drivers around them. Elliott ended in 15th place, while Blaney finished 18th in the final standing.

Now, ahead of the race at Daytona, the Georgia-based driver opened up about the incident with senior journalist Bob Pockrass. The latter shared their interaction on his X page.

"I mean, obviously, I hate, you know, hate that it ended up the way it did and, you know, hated to mess up Ryan's day too, but, you know, we were all packing it off in the corner trying to, you know, get around there to have a better finish, you know," Elliott said (0:07 onwards).

"I told him, I hated it. It certainly was not my intent and, unfortunately, messed both of our days up," he further added, apologizing to Blaney while doing so (0:23 onwards).

As of now, Chase Elliott is standing in second position in the driver's table with 804 points, while Ryan Blaney is in fourth place with 732 points.