Why NASCAR fans shouldn’t expect Chase Elliott to go for revenge against Martin Truex Jr. at Richmond

Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. explain why they’re not holding grudges after making contact during the Southern 500.

Chase Elliott probably isn’t going to seek on-track revenge against Martin Truex Jr. in NASCAR’s next race Saturday at Richmond Raceway — even if his fan base would argue payback in this situation is reasonable.

The two playoff drivers were fighting for the lead in Sunday’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway — the first of 10 playoff races — and Truex tried to capitalize on a strong run with just 14 laps remaining. As he tried to pass Elliott for the lead, he didn’t quite get there, and they both hit the wall and fell behind.

“Not [expletive] clear, jackass!” Elliott said on his radio after the contact. He finished 20th, Truex was 22nd and Kevin Harvick won his eighth race of the season.

But it doesn’t appear that Elliott is holding a grudge. Both he and Truex chalked it up to racing aggressively in the playoffs for a win, which would guarantee advancing out of the Round of 16 and into the Round of 12.

“I feel like Martin and I both have a lot of respect for each other,” Elliott said Thursday during a Zoom press conference.

“I know from my end, I respect him. He’s a champion. I feel like we’ve had some really hard battles together, so I would hope that’s mutual. And if it’s not mutual, I still have respect for him either way. I do think that situation was a racing incident. I think we were both battling really hard.”

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Following Sunday’s race, Truex, with one checkered flag in 2020, is sixth in the driver standings, and Elliott, with two wins this season, is seventh.

But there’s almost zero wiggle room between them and the nine playoff drivers behind them in the standings, meaning they could risk elimination if they have poor finishes at Richmond on Saturday.

Immediately after the Southern 500, Truex told NBC Sports he didn’t purposely cut Elliott off. He thought he was clear and “had enough momentum and distance on him that he was going to let me in.” And Elliott said Thursday that he “probably” would have if Truex tried to pass for the lead earlier in the race — but not with 15 laps left.

Also on Zoom, Truex agreed that he and the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driver have a mutual respect for each other and explained that he thought he was making a pass for the checkered flag and just went for it.

“I feel like in that moment, we both made a split-second decision and tried to anticipate or think what the other one would do,” the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver said Thursday. “And I think we both guessed wrong, to be honest with you. Just really close, obviously. Nobody’s fault. I don’t think you can really pin the blame on one guy. Just kind of a racing deal that was unfortunate for both of our teams.”

While it seems like both drivers have moved on, this isn’t the first time Elliott has clashed with a Joe Gibbs Racing driver. In 2017, Denny Hamlin bumped and wrecked Elliott late in a playoff race at Martinsville Speedway.

Then in May at Darlington, Kyle Busch accidentally wrecked Elliott, who was running second at the time. Elliott famously flipped Busch off before they later made peace.

But the situation with Busch is “definitely” different than what happened with Truex, Elliott said.

“I don’t think it was something he did on purpose,” he added. “We were both being aggressive, and when you’re coming to a race end like that and a potential win of the Southern 500, I mean, I think I’d be foolish not to push for every last inch I had an opportunity to get.”

Now with a career-high of 644 laps led in a season, Elliott will have to keep that mentality especially Saturday at Richmond, where his career finishes aren’t great. In nine Cup starts, Elliott has just two top-5 finishes, both in 2018. Truex, however, swept the two 2019 Richmond races for his first checkered flags at the .75-mile track. (NASCAR did not have its usual spring Richmond race because of the COVID-19 pandemic.)

But Elliott is embracing his disappointing Darlington finish as a learning experience, as he tries to advance through the playoffs and to the Championship 4 finale in November at Phoenix Raceway.

“The people that win in this series — and win a lot — don’t find themselves in the type of position that we were in on Sunday night because they don’t let the guy in second ever get to that point to have a chance,” Elliott said.

“I can certainly control my decision-making prior to something like that happening to do a better job in extending the gap to that person behind you to where they don’t have the opportunity to be up there by you to make a mistake, to run you over or whatever the situation may be.”

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