Chase Elliott’s 2025 Playoff run has been anything but smooth sailing. After a rough 17th-place finish at Darlington put him on the back foot, he clawed his way back with a stellar 3rd-place run at Gateway, keeping his championship hopes alive. That momentum carried him to Bristol. But with just three spots separating him from the cut line, the margin for error was razor-thin.

Every lap mattered, every move could make or break his postseason run. And when you’re Chase Elliott, the most popular driver in NASCAR, every move is under a microscope. What happened next under the bright lights of Thunder Valley sent social media into overdrive. And surprisingly, the finger-pointing didn’t go where you’d expect.

Chase Elliott’s NASCAR Bristol race ends early

Chase Elliott’s night came crashing down on lap 311 of the NASCAR Bristol Night Race in dramatic fashion. Running mid-pack and looking to keep his postseason alive, Elliott made an aggressive move from the outside lane, diving low in front of John Hunter Nemechek. But the gamble didn’t pay off.

Nemechek didn’t lift to let Elliott settle in, and the contact that followed sent the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet straight into the outside wall. The impact was brutal, leaving Elliott’s car with heavy front-end damage and fans holding their breath. “42 destroyed us,” Elliott was heard on the radio. Moments later, the team’s verdict was final: the damage was too severe to repair.

By lap 317, Chase Elliott had wheeled the battered Chevy to the garage, climbed out, and officially called it a night. That left him with no choice but to watch the closing laps from the sidelines, hoping his points cushion would be enough to carry him through to the Round of 12. “I thought I was clear, you know, back down in line, you know. I visually saw the, you know, gap. So I was just trying to get back in line I and then I got a huge shot from behind,” Elliott explained the incident.

After crashing out of the NASCAR Bristol race, Elliott’s first concern was whether he would be eliminated from the Round of 12 as he sits in the precarious 9th position, with +28 points. He believed he was below the cutoff line. However, as it turns out, Elliott is actually safe above the cutoff line, needing only to avoid a surprise new winner (Alex Bowman) to advance to the Round of 12.

But as the dust settled, fans weren’t just blaming Nemechek. In fact, many were actually defending him. Social media erupted with takes saying Elliott’s move was too risky and Nemechek had every right to hold his line. The debate only added fuel to the Bristol chaos narrative.

Fans side with Nemechek after Elliott’s Bristol wreck

When Chase Elliott’s night went up in smoke at Bristol, you’d think fans would rally behind the most popular driver in the sport. Instead, many of them jumped to John Hunter Nemechek’s defense, and they weren’t holding back. “It was literally the 9’s fault. What was he doing?” one fan wrote, pointing out that Elliott seemed to cut down too aggressively, trying to slot into line. The replay backs that up, showing Elliott darting from the outside lane right across Nemechek’s nose with little room to spare.

Others were even more blunt. “DONT SAY SORRY HE DESERVED IT,” another comment read, clearly aimed at Nemechek, who’s often been criticized for being overly aggressive. This time, fans believe he was just holding his line. “Nah, 9 tried clearing himself, for once that wasn’t on Nemechek,” a third fan added. A rare moment of online consensus.

Some even said Elliott’s crash was “deserved,” with one fan quipping, “Hocevar better,” suggesting Carson Hocevar (known for his aggressive moves) would have made a better move than Elliott. The sentiment highlights a shift in the narrative. Elliott’s move wasn’t seen as a victim moment but as a gamble gone wrong. And with Elliott’s playoff life hanging by a thread, fans seemed more concerned about whether Nemechek could capitalize on the chaos than whether the HMS star would advance.

In a season where tempers and cutline drama are running hotter than ever, Bristol added fuel to the fire. But not in the way Elliott fans might have hoped. Instead of outrage at Nemechek, the conversation turned into a reminder that even NASCAR’s biggest names aren’t immune to being called out when they make a mistake.