“These races are very hard to win”: Chase Elliott calls for celebration of Kyle Larson‘s ‘dominant’ outing at North Wilkesboro

NASCAR's return to North Carolina's North Wilkesboro Speedway fared well for Hendrick Motorsport's Chase Elliott, who ended up with a top-5 finish on Sunday. However, Elliott's rodeo at the old 0.625-mile-long track did not bode as well for the Dawsonville, Georgia native as it did for his teammate Kyle Larson.

The weekend kicked off with Larson racing on Saturday in the Craftsman Truck Series and managing to win on the track completely new to the dirt track racer. Following his performances in the Tyson 250, the Elk Grove, California native dominated the All-Star Race on Sunday as well, driving through the field to take victory with Bubba Wallace in P2 more than four seconds down the road.

In a race that saw Larson lead 145 laps out of the total 200 despite a pit-road speeding penalty, Chase Elliott was one of the first drivers to acknowledge his teammate's achievement. Elliott also elaborated on whether he thought the race was boring or not, saying:

“A dominant performance should be celebrated just as much as a close finish in my eyes. They’re not always going to be barn burners, and that’s okay. It still doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s still very difficult and these races are very hard to win, so that should always be celebrated regardless of what the race looked like.”

Praise from Chase Elliott directed towards his teammate Kyle Larson is in no regard small news as both drivers have proven their skill in the sport by winning championships with Rick Hendrick's organization.

Chase Elliott unsurprised with outcome of All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro

The 2023 All-Star Race has received flak from fans and the NASCAR fraternity in general for being a slight 'snoozefest' as compared to how much the event was hyped up before going live. The return of the North Wilkesboro Speedway along with old-school short track racing meant fans expected chaos and a lot more caution flags than they were introduced to on Sunday.

Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott, on the other hand, seemed to predict the exhibition race's fate beforehand as the Dawsonville, Georgia native expected difficulty in passing and following. He elaborated on the same and said:

“I didn’t think it was going to be very chaotic, personally, It’s more you can’t get close enough to somebody most of the time to hit them without just really hurting yourself.”

Elliott highlighted the difficulty drivers had in passing each other on the track, while Larson seemed to be in vastly superior machinery considering the way he carved through the field.