Chase Elliott

Maybe Chase is finally developing a personality. Had some pretty funny quotes from his recently.
 
aunty dive said:
The Champ is going to run a Sprint Car. I might end up liking this guy.

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He’s winning over a lot of fans lately. Join in! Chase’s personality being on full display this season completely won me over. I just want him to win everything now
 
That is cool to see Chase is racing with Larson in northern California at Merced on Tues and Wed night. Larson usually races at the Turkey night Grand Prix at Ventura Raceway in southern California which is later that week on Fri and Sat night, so I wonder if Chase will be there also. I haven't seen an entry list yet.
 
ahhculdee said:
Maybe Chase is finally developing a personality. Had some pretty funny quotes from his recently.
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I've said this for about a month now, but Chase has developed into a driver with qualities that make him easier to root against beyond just popularity.

He's a likeable guy, but the way he races, the way he has a temper and handles and speaks, at times, is edgy and childish. He is a wise little instigator.

I keep saying this, I'd much rather flop back and forth between rooting for, and against this Elliott, than indifferently trying to convince myself to root for "down in the dumps" Elliott.

For the first time in decades, we have a "most popular driver" put fans and drivers off for reasons beyond just popularity.. but those reasons aren't character flaws either. I'm thoroughly enjoying this Chase Elliott.



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Im finding myself scratching my head as to what went wrong for Chase.

Both at Phoenix and Martinsville. But particularly with Phoenix. Ive come to the conclusion that Chase is not good at diagnosing the car and reporting what he really needs out of it.

At Phoenix, he had the field covered for the first 25-30 laps of a run. He ran his fastest lap of the race on lap 3. Larson couldn't keep up with him for those first 25-30 laps. Interestingly, the 5 team continued to improve, and by the time he got the lead, he was able to drive away from Chase. In stage 3, he ran his fastest lap of the race. Meanwhile, Chase's fastest lap remained from lap 3, or whatever lap it was.

That 9 team failed to maximize their car's strengths as the weather changed and the track cooled, and more or less watched as the 5 caught up, worked around their damage through multiple adjustments, and then surpassed the 9's short run speed.

Then, in the final run, 25 laps, which was his strength, he couldn't even hold off Blaney. I find myself wondering what happened?

The same thing happened at Martinsville, hours into the day, his advantage was gone. Chase took responsibility for it and said he made the wrong call on adjustments.

To Chase fans, it's no question the 9 team lacks in consistent race execution, but how much of this is Chase simply over thinking his adjustments? He also seemed unwilling to move around the track and run other grooves. I'm not a CC or a driver, but I'd imagine there's a lot of information that coulda been available to him that was left on the table. Or maybe, that's what practice was for.

It sorta blew my mind that Chase's fastest lap never improved from the first run of the race.

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jaqua19 said:
Im finding myself scratching my head as to what went wrong for Chase.

Both at Phoenix and Martinsville. But particularly with Phoenix. Ive come to the conclusion that Chase is not good at diagnosing the car and reporting what he really needs out of it.

At Phoenix, he had the field covered for the first 25-30 laps of a run. He ran his fastest lap of the race on lap 3. Larson couldn't keep up with him for those first 25-30 laps. Interestingly, the 5 team continued to improve, and by the time he got the lead, he was able to drive away from Chase. In stage 3, he ran his fastest lap of the race. Meanwhile, Chase's fastest lap remained from lap 3, or whatever lap it was.

That 9 team failed to maximize their car's strengths as the weather changed and the track cooled, and more or less watched as the 5 caught up, worked around their damage through multiple adjustments, and then surpassed the 9's short run speed.

Then, in the final run, 25 laps, which was his strength, he couldn't even hold off Blaney. I find myself wondering what happened?

The same thing happened at Martinsville, hours into the day, his advantage was gone. Chase took responsibility for it and said he made the wrong call on adjustments.

To Chase fans, it's no question the 9 team lacks in consistent race execution, but how much of this is Chase simply over thinking his adjustments? He also seemed unwilling to move around the track and run other grooves. I'm not a CC or a driver, but I'd imagine there's a lot of information that coulda been available to him that was left on the table. Or maybe, that's what practice was for.

It sorta blew my mind that Chase's fastest lap never improved from the first run of the race.

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It's pretty simple. When you spend all day leading a race it sometimes becomes more difficult to figure out what you need when you're not the one doing the chasing. And by the time you get in a position where you need to start working on it you're out of laps by the time you start to figure it out. Which they had plenty of time to do at Martinsville but got dumped. In fact, if you remember last year at Martinsville, he was leading, then fell off a bit towards the end and they got it adjusted back. Chase is very descriptive on the radio and Gustafson has openly said he's the smartest driver he's ever been around so I don't think there's an issue there. Some days it just doesn't go your way and 2021 was full of those days for them for one reason or another.

IMO the race was lost when the caution came out right at the opening of the pit window in the 3rd stage (after he and Hamlin passed Larson). He was coming right after Truex hit pit road and that caution flew cycling Truex to the lead. That whole sequence just set off a chain of restarts and events and they couldn't recover. If it stays green there Chase keeps the lead and more than likely is able to maintain the rest of the way. All it did was give the 5 a few more chances to fix their stuff since he was getting tight and was essentially a non threat at that point. As for getting passed by Blaney, whatever damage he did to the car hitting the wall seemed to ruin the handling at the end.

Larson laid his qualifying lap on a cooling track and it's no surprise he was the fastest he was all day as the track started cooling Sunday.
 
Very good point @AdoubleU24 . I didn't quote to save space... When I listen to the scanner every week, Chase and Alan almost talk in code. Everything is "it's doing what we talked about." "Copy." Chase gives detailed info about what he is trying to get out of it and what it's doing, but without knowing the contexts of the discussions that they had together outside the car, it's very vague to understand live. It seems that Alan offers adjustments a lot, and Chase will often waive him off "to see where this goes." Then again, I think the only adjustments I heard all year were "1 down on track bar" and "a little air pressure." There were many times that something was off and Alan's response was something to the effect of "yeah, that's what we talked about earlier. Unfortunately can't do much about that." Maybe there's not much adjustability built in with the way they were setting it up/tricking it out in the shop? Either way, I don't know that I've ever Chase and the 9 team take a 5th place car and tune it into a winner. If Chase wins, he unloads wicked fast. Food for thought I guess.

There have been SEVERAL times this year where Alan watched the tracing data of someone beating them and told Chase what they were doing and how to adjust the line, and Chase replies that "yeah, I haven't figured out how to do that." Phoenix was the most recent in a critical time. Both Phoenix and Martinsville I think they had a setup that was lights out in the hot portion with sunlight, but when it cooled and shadowed, it was off. Either way, I think the writing is on the wall. Larson's not going anywhere, and Chase is relegated to 2-3 wins a year and second fiddle. It was a fun cup of coffee at the top of the mountain, though, and they can never take that away from us.
 
jaqua19 said:
To Chase fans, it's no question the 9 team lacks in consistent race execution, but how much of this is Chase simply over thinking his adjustments? He also seemed unwilling to move around the track and run other grooves. I'm not a CC or a driver, but I'd imagine there's a lot of information that coulda been available to him that was left on the table. Or maybe, that's what practice was for.

It sorta blew my mind that Chase's fastest lap never improved from the first run of the race.

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Listening to the radio, I do hear some lack of confidence or confusion what to do on adjustments. Alan suggests things, and Chase always "yeah, but we don't want to swing too far the other way" etc. I don't know if he doesn't trust the feel or what. There's also been several this year where say Larson is putting .05-.1 a lap on him, and when Alan asks what he needs to get it better, Chase says "I really don't know. It's doing everything I want it to do, feels good."
 
Dr_B_UNC said:
Listening to the radio, I do hear some lack of confidence or confusion what to do on adjustments. Alan suggests things, and Chase always "yeah, but we don't want to swing too far the other way" etc. I don't know if he doesn't trust the feel or what. There's also been several this year where say Larson is putting .05-.1 a lap on him, and when Alan asks what he needs to get it better, Chase says "I really don't know. It's doing everything I want it to do, feels good."
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Responding to both you and @AdoubleU24.

To his point, I disagree that it's "pretty simple" in that it's difficult to adjust a dominant car and maintain advantages. We see this too often. The 5 was better at the end of the 600, end of Nashville, end of Roval etc, than at the start. While it's more difficult, teams that win a lot of races find ways to keep that advantage.

To your point, I think Chase may have *too much* input. I said this during the Martinsville race, but I was surprised to hear Chase take responsibility for adjustments. I think he needs to let Alan just do his job and make the adjustments he needs. If Chase thinks the car feels good, and he doesn't know what he can do to make up the extra .10 Larson is beating him by..I would think he should make note of where Larson is beating him in the corner. And if Chase had an intuitive feel for the car, he'd push, and see what he's missing in that part of the corner. That involves him doing something different, which to me, it seems like he isn't always willing to do.

I've never seen them tune a 5th place car into a winning car.

Curious that you aren't sure if he trusts the feel. Why does he wave off Alan so much? Maybe it's Alan he doesn't trust, and they are running their course?

Other than in 09, Alan never really blew my mind, and I think a lot of that had to do with Martin's cooperation, enthusiasm, talent, and HMS being in their peak in 09.



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Dr_B_UNC said:
Very good point @AdoubleU24 . I didn't quote to save space... When I listen to the scanner every week, Chase and Alan almost talk in code. Everything is "it's doing what we talked about." "Copy." Chase gives detailed info about what he is trying to get out of it and what it's doing, but without knowing the contexts of the discussions that they had together outside the car, it's very vague to understand live. It seems that Alan offers adjustments a lot, and Chase will often waive him off "to see where this goes." Then again, I think the only adjustments I heard all year were "1 down on track bar" and "a little air pressure." There were many times that something was off and Alan's response was something to the effect of "yeah, that's what we talked about earlier. Unfortunately can't do much about that." Maybe there's not much adjustability built in with the way they were setting it up/tricking it out in the shop? Either way, I don't know that I've ever Chase and the 9 team take a 5th place car and tune it into a winner. If Chase wins, he unloads wicked fast. Food for thought I guess.

There have been SEVERAL times this year where Alan watched the tracing data of someone beating them and told Chase what they were doing and how to adjust the line, and Chase replies that "yeah, I haven't figured out how to do that." Phoenix was the most recent in a critical time. Both Phoenix and Martinsville I think they had a setup that was lights out in the hot portion with sunlight, but when it cooled and shadowed, it was off. Either way, I think the writing is on the wall. Larson's not going anywhere, and Chase is relegated to 2-3 wins a year and second fiddle. It was a fun cup of coffee at the top of the mountain, though, and they can never take that away from us.
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I need to respond to this.

To me, what's most concerning is the waving off of adjustments. and everything in your second paragraph. Can you recall what the incident was when Chase says "I haven't figured out how to do that". I think Chase is immensely talented, but you're making it sound as if he's limited to only what the car can do, and understands adjustments that have only been prepped, and I DO think he is better than that.

I also think that, if he is as smart as AdoubleU24 is saying, then he needs to stop being stubborn and let himself, and Alan make mistakes. I also think it may mean Alan isn't a good fit for a driver like Chase. Alan is the CC. If Chase is reporting something the car is doing, and Alan wants to make a change, and Chase is apprehensive, Alan needs to hear that, address it, and convince his driver, quickly, to let him do his job.

I listened to Larson's scanner all season, and not once did Cliff tell him "I'm not sure what we can do about that". Larson breaks down the car, what he needs, and what's wrong, and Cliff makes the decision, and instills confidence.

It sounds like Chase and Alan are both enabling each other's weaknesses. When things click, when the car unloads fast, and their adjustments go as prepped, they're tough. But when they're sort of improvising as the track changes, they both get lost and can't rely on each other for confident info.

As for second fiddle. It's always gonna be 1A and 1B. Chase is still a young champion, the most popular driver, and is probably the leader among the 4. I think 3 wins a year on average, is what you can expect. With a few breakout years. I'd also imagine he's got another 1 or 2 titles coming at some point. As does Larson. Don't think it's as bad as it may seem.

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Maybe I'm not a good fan, but right now it seems bleak. This was a really "down" year for a defending champ and they flat threw several chances down the drain. Then another was very dirtily taken, but I digress... Larson is the truth and has Chase's number. Chase is NOT the alpha dog at HMS. I even await the panicky "since Larson has supplanted him at HMS, where will Chase go to be The Man" talk. 😂

There's something not clicking this year. Last year on the radio, Alan did seem more like a CC and it was more a feel of "hang in there bud, I'll get you fixed up. Keep digging." This year was just different. I don't know if the title went to his/their heads, or what. Lots of fanbases would kill to have a couple wins and be in the Final 4, but this just felt like a hollow disappointment all year. I never felt he was competitive unless at a road course, and when they were dominant in a race (Vegas, Martinsville, Phoenix) it was just a dreadful feeling of waiting for it to unravel, which it always did.
 
It would have felt a lot different if your teammate, in equal equipment, wasn't flat out whipping your ass weekly. Interested to see how they all adapt to the new car. If it does drive closer to a Super Late Model as some said early on, Chase will be ok. With less side force and therefore looser cars, guys like Chase and Larson will have even more chance to shine.
 
jaqua19 said:
Im finding myself scratching my head as to what went wrong for Chase.
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All that went wrong for Chasey was Kyle Larson. Chase is not as good. Period. Equal equipment. Straight up. He got his ass kicked.
 
Dr_B_UNC said:
Maybe I'm not a good fan, but right now it seems bleak. This was a really "down" year for a defending champ and they flat threw several chances down the drain. Then another was very dirtily taken, but I digress... Larson is the truth and has Chase's number. Chase is NOT the alpha dog at HMS. I even await the panicky "since Larson has supplanted him at HMS, where will Chase go to be The Man" talk. 😂

There's something not clicking this year. Last year on the radio, Alan did seem more like a CC and it was more a feel of "hang in there bud, I'll get you fixed up. Keep digging." This year was just different. I don't know if the title went to his/their heads, or what. Lots of fanbases would kill to have a couple wins and be in the Final 4, but this just felt like a hollow disappointment all year. I never felt he was competitive unless at a road course, and when they were dominant in a race (Vegas, Martinsville, Phoenix) it was just a dreadful feeling of waiting for it to unravel, which it always did.
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Chin up little buck....a couple of years ago Hendrick couldn't win ****. My how things change.....
 
Dr_B_UNC said:
Listening to the radio, I do hear some lack of confidence or confusion what to do on adjustments. Alan suggests things, and Chase always "yeah, but we don't want to swing too far the other way" etc. I don't know if he doesn't trust the feel or what. There's also been several this year where say Larson is putting .05-.1 a lap on him, and when Alan asks what he needs to get it better, Chase says "I really don't know. It's doing everything I want it to do, feels good."
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If you can't tune the Camaro 2.0, you are an idiot. Period.
 
Revman said:
If you can't tune the Camaro 2.0, you are an idiot. Period.
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You mean the "brand new" Camaro that was "specifically designed" for the 750 package? Or wait, is it the 550 package? Hmm. Seems like those engineers at GM built a car that could excel at both. Imagine that.
 
Dr_B_UNC said:
Maybe I'm not a good fan, but right now it seems bleak. This was a really "down" year for a defending champ and they flat threw several chances down the drain. Then another was very dirtily taken, but I digress... Larson is the truth and has Chase's number. Chase is NOT the alpha dog at HMS. I even await the panicky "since Larson has supplanted him at HMS, where will Chase go to be The Man" talk.

There's something not clicking this year. Last year on the radio, Alan did seem more like a CC and it was more a feel of "hang in there bud, I'll get you fixed up. Keep digging." This year was just different. I don't know if the title went to his/their heads, or what. Lots of fanbases would kill to have a couple wins and be in the Final 4, but this just felt like a hollow disappointment all year. I never felt he was competitive unless at a road course, and when they were dominant in a race (Vegas, Martinsville, Phoenix) it was just a dreadful feeling of waiting for it to unravel, which it always did.
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Yeah, it sounds like that fit could just be wearing thin.

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Revman said:
All that went wrong for Chasey was Kyle Larson. Chase is not as good. Period. Equal equipment. Straight up. He got his ass kicked.
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Larson is better. That's clear.

But Chase and Alan left results, and probably 2 more wins on the table this year.

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jaqua19 said:
Larson is better. That's clear.

But Chase and Alan left results, and probably 2 more wins on the table this year.

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Blatant giveaways of wins this year for me were Daytona Road Course, Watkins Glen, Vegas 2, and Martinsville. If they didn't have those in the bag, it was darn close. Roval I didn't include because Harv went full Harv. Nothing a team can do about a guy deciding to be a complete ahole.

Edit: I could add Chase gave away Daytona 2 with the ill advised block. Bristol 2 is a woulda-coulda-shoulda race too.
 
Dr_B_UNC said:
Blatant giveaways of wins this year for me were Daytona Road Course, Watkins Glen, Vegas 2, and Martinsville. If they didn't have those in the bag, it was darn close. Roval I didn't include because Harv went full Harv. Nothing a team can do about a guy deciding to be a complete ahole.

Edit: I could add Chase gave away Daytona 2 with the ill advised block. Bristol 2 is a woulda-coulda-shoulda race too.
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Idk about Vegas 2. Hamlin was tough. Bristol, the 5 had the killer long run speed until Denny wrecked himself, and damaged the 5. So lots of shoulda coulda wouldas.

Either way, without the 4/9 contact, Harvick wins that race. Without the 11 contact, Larson gets by them both with 25-30 to go anyway.

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jaqua19 said:
Idk about Vegas 2. Hamlin was tough. Bristol, the 5 had the killer long run speed until Denny wrecked himself, and damaged the 5. So lots of shoulda coulda wouldas.

Either way, without the 4/9 contact, Harvick wins that race. Without the 11 contact, Larson gets by them both with 25-30 to go anyway.

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That's why I didn't try and claim Bristol. It was a toss up with many players involved. Vegas 2? Chase had Dennis covered by a long shot. He still damn near walked the 11 down late despite the litany of errors.
 
2 Sweet said:
You mean the "brand new" Camaro that was "specifically designed" for the 750 package? Or wait, is it the 550 package? Hmm. Seems like those engineers at GM built a car that could excel at both. Imagine that.
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Pick your package. They had a second try, and they knew what they needed because they ****** up Camaro 1.0 so badly. The Toyotas and the Fords were designed for something else, and if you didn't know that, you have no business posting like you know what you are talking about. The playing wasn't level....but it will be next year. Ya know...parity and all. It's a joke...the Chevy apologists try to make this out to be a tweak to the 1.0--@StandOnIt makes it sound like a couple of modifications. It was a whole new ****** car designed around the current rules package(s)--ask Knaus....the (s) added just for you. Chevy must have been giddy when the Next Gen was delayed. Another year of that advantage. You didn't notice in '20 because the almighty Mr. H's team still couldn't figure it out. Without Chasey's Championship, '20 was mediocre at best when it should have been what '21 was.
 
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jaqua19 said:
Yeah, it sounds like that fit could just be wearing thin.

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They are fine IMO. They were just getting their asses beaten by their teammate. Hurts a guy's feelings and everything....but man, he tries hard.
 
Revman said:
They are fine IMO. They were just getting their asses beaten by their teammate. Hurts a guy's feelings and everything....but man, he tries hard.
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Idk about that Rev. I haven't listened much to them, so it could just be how they worked, but from the bit I've listened to, there's seems to be a general tendency to sometimes "give up".

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jaqua19 said:
Idk about that Rev. I haven't listened much to them, so it could just be how they worked, but from the bit I've listened to, there's seems to be a general tendency to sometimes "give up".

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Interesting. I haven't listened to them either, but I just think that it would be demoralizing to be Larson's teammate this year.
 
Dr_B_UNC said:
Like the other 39 drivers in Cup.
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No really. Only the Chevys were awarded a new car. Larson drove the best car in the field perfectly, and his team executed. Nothing to sneeze at, but all of it needs to be kept in proper perspective.
 
Revman said:
Interesting. I haven't listened to them either, but I just think that it would be demoralizing to be Larson's teammate this year.
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I would agree there. And ultimately I'm just guessing here. Going off of the bit if heard, and Dr Unc's pretty neutral take on it.

I wish I listened more last year for comparison.

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Revman said:
No really. Only the Chevys were awarded a new car. Larson drove the best car in the field perfectly, and his team executed. Nothing to sneeze at, but all of it needs to be kept in proper perspective.
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Eh, ebb and flow. Definitely credit to the driver and team.

An excellent driver, CC and team running the best car is the difference between a 10/20/26, 2500 lap lead season/championship, and a 6/16/23, 1700 laps lead.

A good team and driver in the fastest car, with perfect execution is going to dominate. I think the credit to the team is by just how much the driver/team dominates a season. And no team with the fastest car all year executed their season of the gen 6 era as good as Larson, Cliff and the 5 team.

Ceiling raisers.

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Revman said:
No really. Only the Chevys were awarded a new car. Larson drove the best car in the field perfectly, and his team executed. Nothing to sneeze at, but all of it needs to be kept in proper perspective.
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It's called parity
 
Ah yes… Rev with his Camaro 2.0 rant while ignoring how Toyota effectively ruined the sport and pushed us into lowered horsepower rules. See, two can play this silly game Rev.
 
Revman said:
Interesting. I haven't listened to them either, but I just think that it would be demoralizing to be Larson's teammate this year.
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Why??? If one guy can kick ass in that equipment it only means you have to tweak the equipment to suit yourself or admit the other guy is a better driver.
 
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