Chase Elliott reacts to tire wear at Bristol, suggests race would be entirely different with one opportunity

Chase Elliott had an interesting reaction to the tire wear at Bristol after competing in the NASCAR Cup Series race on Saturday night. While speaking to reporters following his crash on Lap 310, Elliott talked about an opportunity that could have helped the drivers at Bristol.

“My quick thought of the situation is if you give these teams an opportunity to set the cars up knowing that tire wear was going to be this high, I think you would probably see a different race,” Chase Elliott said. “So, let’s not blame the tires yet.”

The second NASCAR Bristol race of the season featured a new, softer right-side tire in hopes the rubber would wear quicker. The addition led to 36 lead changes and 14 caution periods. During the race, the temperatures were in the high 60s, which led to high tire wear because of the cooler track. When the drivers practiced on Friday, the temperatures were near 80 degrees, leading to cars making runs upwards of 60 laps.

Chase Elliott shares more on the NASCAR Bristol race

When Elliott wrecked, he wasn’t sure if he advanced to the second round of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. But the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion did enough during the first round to qualify for the Round of 8, which begins next weekend.

Elliott also talked about the ebbs and flows of the Bristol race, as he was competing for the lead and fighting through traffic at the rear. “I don’t know that it forced you to change your style as much as just where you were running and how much pace you were pushing,” Elliott said, per NASCAR.com. “We were in such a terrible position getting trapped a lap down there early. We were probably a little late to realize that we needed to stop.

“But on the same token, if it goes green, it probably works out OK for us. So yeah, I got trapped a lap down, and being in the back of the pack versus being up front, certainly there was a big difference in how I was driving the car, and we were working on making our balance suit being out front, and it was slowly getting better.”