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Chase Elliott Reveals the Reality of Hendrick Motorsports That Kept Him for Celebrating a Win in 2022

Published 07/22/2023, 3:43 PM EDT

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Which one is a tougher question to answer: Whether Chase Elliott will be able to clinch a victory and enter the playoffs, or why did the chicken cross the road? Well, a NASCAR enthusiast will surely agree that the first question makes more sense than the other and is an easier nut to crack. There is no denying the fact that the NASCAR community is still optimistic that the golden boy of NASCAR will be able to end his drought and enter the Playoffs.

Some may surely consider the assertion to be overly optimistic, and situations can occasionally go awry. However, this assertion can be substantiated by the fact that Elliott, in his seven-year career as a Cup Series driver, has never missed the Playoffs.

Moreover, the No. 9 Chevrolet is positive about the fact that he would be able to secure a victory. However, the driver hopes that he wins the race on his own merits and does not repeat the same feat from last year’s race at Pocono, as he asserts the reasons why he did not celebrate his win at Pocono last year.

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Chase Elliott spills the beans on not celebrating his Pocono victory

The approaching race at Pocono Raceway is set to be met with mixed feelings by drivers and fans alike. It was at this track that Kurt Busch suffered a harrowing crash that forced him to withdraw from the Cup Series, an effect that he has yet to overcome. Moreover, the disappointing results for Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch surely garnered the most attention from fans.

In the 2022 Cup Series season, Chase Elliott had already secured four victories by this time of the year, including the victory at Pocono. However, the victory at Pocono was surely unanticipated for Chase Elliott, who had finished third in the race. The reason for the victory can be credited to both Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, who finished first and second, respectively, but were disqualified from the race after failing the inspection post-race, leading to Elliott’s victory.

However, it seems that the 2020 Cup Series champion was surely not happy to win under the given circumstances and did not celebrate the win. Elliott reinforced the facts in the pre-race interview ahead of the race on Sunday. He expressed, “No, there was no celebration. I didn’t want to celebrate it personally. That’s not how I want to win a race, personally.”

The No. 9 Chevy continued, “I don’t think anyone at Hendrick Motorsports or on the No. 9 team in particular wants to win that way. We all want to go win them out-right and make sure we feel like we earned it. We want to earn it every week.”

Watch this Story: Bubba Wallace Agrees With Chase Elliott As They Point Out One Glaring Issue With NASCAR

Elliott reveals how he was informed of his Pocono victory

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While revealing the facts, the Hendrick Motorsports driver also spilled the beans on the fact, that the news of the victory was the last thing he had expected. He revealed to the media his nonchalance after winning the race at Pocono last year.

He exclaimed, “So no, there was really no celebration. Heck, I was on the way home so when I landed, I had a couple text messages saying ‘hey, you won the race’. And I was like ‘we won the race.. no, we ran third’. Yeah, so that’s how I found out.”

“It was just weird.. the whole deal was kind of odd. But it is what it is – it wasn’t anything I did, it just worked out, I guess,” Elliott asserted.

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Nonetheless, the No. 9 Chevrolet driver is optimistic that he will be able to earn a victory this time and defend his title. He believes he has the ‘opportunity’ and will be able to turn the tides of their fate and extract the most of their ‘potential’ who still remain in the Playoff picture.

Chase Elliott Reveals Wild Secret About Denny Hamlin After He Was Disqualified From the Win Last Year

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Written by:

Ayantika Maitra

760Articles

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Ayantika Maitra is a NASCAR Writer at EssentiallySports. It was initially Formula 1 that made her fall in love with the world of motorsports. But quickly, the raw and unfiltered nature of NASCAR is what led her to build an affinity for the Stock Car Racing Series.
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Edited by:

Shivali Nathta