DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Chase Elliott entered Saturday night's NASCAR Cup Series regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway needing nothing less than a victory to make the cut.
Despite being in prime position to make the race at the 2.5-mile superspeedway into a Cinderella story, it didn't work out that way, as the Dawsonville, Georgia racer crossed the finish lien in fourth behind winner Chris Buescher, eliminating Elliott from Playoff contention.
Elliott had been facing an uphill battle for months. He missed six races after breaking his left leg in a snowboarding accident in early March and was suspended for another for intentionally wrecking Denny Hamlin in May at Charlotte. Those absences left NASCAR's most popular driver him trying to dig out of a hole all summer.
Elliott knew Daytona was a wild card, but he still managed to get to the front and lead two laps early. He was in the mix late but had little Chevrolet help around him.
“Yeah, it's a bummer for sure," said Elliott, who missed the playoffs for the first time in eight Cup seasons. “I appreciate everybody’s support through this season. Hasn’t been what I would want by any means. Certainly going to be some lessons taken from it, and I think we’ll be better for it on the other end.”
Elliott was one of 17 drivers who entered the night looking to steal the final transfer spot from 16th place Bubba Wallace. Seven of the drivers vying for the berth were eliminated in a 12-car melee a little past the midway point.
Ty Gibbs was one of those knocked out of contention. Christopher Bell was pushing Gibbs near the front of the field but got him sideways in Turn 4. Gibbs slammed into race leader Ryan Blaney, turning Blaney's No. 12 Ford into the outside wall. Blaney hit so hard that at least two tires lifted off the ground.
“I feel like I got pushed in a bad spot," Gibbs said.
“It stinks. A lot of cars got tore up. Not fun," Blaney said.
KURT BUSCH RETIRES
Kurt Busch held back tears as he announced his Cup Series retirement Saturday at Daytona International Speedway. The 2004 series champion and 2017 Daytona 500 winner called it quits mostly because he’s been unable to shake lingering effects of a significant concussion that rocked stock car racing a year ago.
“My body is just having a battle with Father Time,” the 45-year-old Busch said.
UP NEXT
The Cup Series playoffs begin at Darlington Raceway next Sunday. William Byron won in May at the track, and Erik Jones won the postseason race there in 2022.
