Chase Elliott weighs in on extreme tire wear at Bristol, reveals what he wants to see different

“Look, I applaud everyone involved for kind of attacking that science experiment with the tire and trying to make it do something cool and different and replicate a race that no one really understood why it happened, being that race up there last spring. I think that there are always ways to tweak and help and make it better,” Elliott said Wednesday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “I’m not sure what the right balance is, but it’s always important to try and make the product as best we can. I just don’t want it to feel gimmicky, you know what I mean?

“I want it to be real, and I want the drivers to be able to make a big difference if it is going to be a tire conservation race — how you do that and the skill it takes to achieve that, too. So, maybe there’s a balance in there somewhere and we can find it with the tire and also be improving the car with time as well.”

Chase Elliott, NASCAR Cup Series drivers were forced to manage tires at Bristol

Goodyear struck gold in the spring 2024 race, which saw 54 lead changes and 3,589 total passes under green flag conditions. Goodyear failed to replicate it in the following two Bristol races, but they figured it out — and then some — for Saturday’s race. 

What caught drivers by surprise was that the new tire showed minimal fall-off during Friday’s practice session. Those same tires were cording not too long into drivers’ runs on Saturday. It appears the temperature, which was mid 60s throughout the race, made the difference. 

A tire conservation race, it was, though Elliott didn’t make it all the way to the end. His run came to an end on Lap 311 when contact with John Hunter Nemechek sent him crashing into the outside wall. Elliott finished 38th.