Chase Elliott apologizes, airs out frustration during rough Darlington race: ‘I suck’

You couldn’t script a worse start to the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs for Chase Elliott. He qualified 21st for Sunday’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, and his run to this point has been full of struggles.

Elliott’s frustration reached its boiling point in Stage 3. He was blunt on his radio following the Lap 313 caution.

“F*ck me, man. Sorry,” Elliott told his team, via Jeff Gluck of The Athletic. “… I’m sorry. I suck. Killed the back end.”

Elliott had surprisingly gone a lap down before the caution. He got the free pass, allowing him to get back on the lead lap. At this point, Elliott is just hoping to salvage something out of Darlington. Elliott has been inconsistent throughout his career at Darlington, and it’s the reason why he had some concern heading into the playoff opener.

“I think you have to respect each round,” Elliott said earlier this week. “This is going to be a tough round. You know, Darlington’s been a tough track for me. We’ve had some good runs here and there, but certainly not very consistent.”

Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports off at Darlington

Across the board, Hendrick Motorsports has been off at Darlington. Alex Bowman has had several issues, while Kyle Larson and William Byron haven’t been as effective as the Toyotas up front.

The good news for Elliott and his teammates is there are two more opportunities to perform in the Round of 16. Anything can happen in the postseason; Elliott knows that as well as anyone.

“Ten weeks is a long time,” Elliott said. “Like, that’s a lot of racing, and it’s almost enough time for someone to have a good few weeks, go through a stretch of not-so-good weeks and then get good again. It’s a lot of racing, you know, over two months.

“So, I think sometimes you kind of get these questions about the playoffs, and it’s like, oh, there’s just the playoffs, like, it’s just one thing, right? And it’s not. It’s a long period of time. And a lot of long hours working, in the shop, and travel. It’s just there’s 10 races and a lot can happen in 10 weeks.”