Chase Elliott Insinuates NASCAR PR Machine Has Silenced Kyle Larson’s Protest Against “Embarassing” Ross Chastain Move
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Chase Elliott Insinuates NASCAR PR Machine Has Silenced Kyle Larson’s Protest Against “Embarassing” Ross Chastain Move
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LAS VEGAS, NV – OCTOBER 16: Chase Elliott (#9 Hendrick Motorsports Hooters Chevrolet) waits for a ride to his vehicle prior to the start of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff South Point 400, on October 16, 2022, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, NV.(Photo by Christopher Trim/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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LAS VEGAS, NV – OCTOBER 16: Chase Elliott (#9 Hendrick Motorsports Hooters Chevrolet) waits for a ride to his vehicle prior to the start of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff South Point 400, on October 16, 2022, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, NV.(Photo by Christopher Trim/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Of all the few voices that rang loud after Ross Chastain’s internet-shattering ‘video game’ move in Martinsville, perhaps none was louder than that of Kyle Larson. And now, there’s also the voice of Chase Elliott disapproving of the move.
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But not quite the same as his teammate.
Kyle Larson calls Ross Chastain's move embarrassing and not a good look.
"I'm embarrassed I did it at Darlington (last year)… Glad I didn't win that way." pic.twitter.com/SAfNsNSz2f
— Dustin Albino (@DustinAlbino) October 30, 2022
This is so because, while Elliott is in disagreement with the move, he also feels it’s worth respecting Chastain for.
“It’s certainly commendable for a guy to do what he had to do to get the job done. I totally respect that,” Elliott said. “From the global landscape of our sport, when you kind of step back and look at it, I think it is a bit embarrassing really.”
The 2020 Cup Series champion added that given NASCAR’s extreme amount of time, attention, and money in making the sport fair and equal, given this season’s penalties, when someone breaks the track record by 2 seconds, it’s improper “from an integrity standpoint.”
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Chase Elliott opens up on social media’s “unfortunate” pushing of ‘video game’ move
As for whether there should be a rule against such a move, Chase Elliott chose to distance himself from that particular thing. “I don’t know, maybe it’s not for me to say,” he claimed.
“It’s a tough one. I think we have a lot of rules as it exists today and I’m certainly not an advocate of having more rules I don’t think,” Elliott continued. “I think they ride a very fine line of entertainment value. The line of entertainment and integrity – that’s a really difficult one to balance.”
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BRISTOL, TN – SEPTEMBER 16: Chase Elliott (#9 Hendrick Motorsports Hooter’s Chevrolet) watches on track action during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Bass Pro Shops NRA Night race on September 16, 2022 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, TN. (Photo by Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The Hendrick Motorsports ace also added that such was the level of promotion and marketing around Chastain’s move, that any discourse on a considerable level of banning it or dissecting its implications was lost.
“With all the retweets and likes and favorites (on social media) they’ve gotten on all the stuff this week, unfortunately, I think that’s driven it a little bit too much,” he added.
