Chase Elliott falls one spot short on Road America repeat

Defending Road America Cup Series winner Chase Elliott fell one position short on going back-to-back at the Wisconsin road course Sunday (July 3).

Elliott started on the pole and led a race-high 36 laps in the Kwik Trip 250 at Road America before race winner Tyler Reddick made the pass on Elliott with 16 laps to go during the final stage of the race.

“I just let him stay close enough to pressure me there while we had decent tires and never could get enough of a gap,” Elliott said.

“Made a couple mistakes. I was gaining a gap there a couple times and made a couple mistakes and let him get back close enough to get me out of sync. After that, just started struggling.”

Elliott leaves the Road America race as the points leader with eight races before the start of the NASCAR Playoffs.

Ryan Blaney (-33 points) and Ross Chastain (-35 points) are the only drivers within one race’s worth of points behind the 2020 series champion. The most points a driver can make up in a single race is 59 points.

Elliott, in his post-race interview with NBC Sports, was vocal about the Next Gen NASCAR race vehicle, breaking down why he was not able to get back around Reddick for the lead.

“These cars are very aero sensitive and even more so nowadays,” Elliott said. “Even more than last year’s car. As the season goes on and everybody’s car has become more of the same and as we learn what everybody needs in their vehicles, every car is going to become the same, manufacturer to manufacturer.

“And as that becomes the case, track position is going to become more and more of a premium. That’s just motorsports nowadays. Aero is huge, and you can’t unlearn, so that’s the road we’re on.”

SOURCES
Racing-Reference.info
Team Chevrolet