Chase Elliott isn’t proud of a lot of things right now.
He isn’t proud of his decision to retaliate against Denny Hamlin during the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and the resulting one-race suspension. He isn’t proud of how much time he has missed this season between the suspension and the six weeks needed to recover from a broken leg sustained in a snowboarding incident in March.
Mostly, Elliott isn’t particularly proud of his performance in the races he has started the season — a career-worst 19.0 average starting position and second-worst 14.6 average finish in eight races.
“Not everybody is perfect, and mistakes are going to be made,” Elliott said. “You’re going to have tough times. That’s just part of it. I can’t change the things that have happened.
“I certainly wouldn’t want to miss the amount of races I’ve missed this year. … That’s not me doing my end of my job — that’s being here at the racetrack and doing my part for our partners and my team and my fans.”
Elliott hooked Hamlin in the right-rear during the race at Charlotte in response to being squeezed into the wall in Turn 4. The retaliation sent Hamlin head-first at a high rate of speed and the on-board data suggested intent.
NASCAR suspended Bubba Wallace for a similar incident last fall at Las Vegas so Elliott understood the decision to suspend him from last weekend at Gateway.
“You look at the situation last year and I get it and I respect their decision,” Elliott said. “At that point in time when you get told that decision, you just put your head down and start thinking about the things you can control, because you certainly can’t go back and change the past.
“For me, it’s been all eyes on trying to go fast here and putting together a good race.”
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Chase Elliott reached out to Denny Hamlin after retaliation
Hamlin said last weekend at Gateway that he had a conversation with Elliott but wouldn’t disclose what was said. Elliott echoed those sentiments but did say he initiated the phone call.
“We had a really mature and good conversation,” Elliott said. “I’ll leave it at that. It was a private matter that I don’t think needs to be (public).”
What would he do if he found himself in that position again?
“Go faster and be in front of him — that’s the best way to fix it,” he said.
Elliott is going to have to go faster than literally everyone else at some point over the final 12 races of the regular season. Winning a race is now the only way he can realistically qualify for the Cup Series playoffs.
“That’s our only way in now,” Elliott said. “It was probably our only way in before too. That’s been my mindset since I came back from my injury so not really a lot changes from that standpoint. We’re starting to piece together some momentum in a couple different areas. It’s not necessarily showing up in the grand scheme of things but I was encouraged by some of the things we are doing.”
Elliott starts 10th on Sunday at the Sonoma Raceway road course.
“I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “And think we can go out there and win this thing. Just really focused on that.”
Elliott hopes to just change the narrative over the next two and a half months.
“I’m not proud of it by any means,” Elliott said of the entire body of work this year. “But we’re in the position that we’re in, and I can’t change the past. All I can do now personally and all we can do now as a team is keep our eyes focused forward.”
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.
