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After being crowned the regular season champion in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series regular season, Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott was one of the front runners for the ultimate prize in stock car racing this year.
Elliott, who made his way into the playoffs on the points he accumulated during the year with his consistent performances, however, seemed to be slightly off the pace last Sunday.
Chase Elliott's day did not go as planned after the championship contender managed to spin himself out during one of the restarts in Phoenix. Boxed in by a slower-starting William Byron ahead of him, Elliott was under attack from a fast-starting Ross Chastain. The #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 driver moved to cover off the attack when he did not realize a portion of Chastain's car's nose was alongside him. The resulting contact spun him into the inside wall and front suspension damage.
The 26-year-old aims to mount a stronger attack towards the championship next year. Chase Elliott elaborated in a post-race interview on the same and said:
"It was nice to make the round (Championship 4), that's a very difficult thing to do. Obviously not content with that but certainly nice to come out here and have a shot and hopefully we can come back stronger next year and give ourselves another chance to make it go our way next time."
Concurrently, Phoenix Raceway hosted the final race of the year and crowned Team Penske's Joey Logano as champion.
Logano and Team Penske were being considered as one of the, if not the guys to watch out for on the day of the title decider, and the #22 crew proved all of that conjecture right. Having had a jump start in terms of preparation for the track in Avondale, Arizona after qualifying for the Championship 4 in the first Round of 8 race itself, Logano and his team seemed to dominate the Championship Race last weekend.
Chase Elliott congratulates Joey Logano on his Cup Series championship
Despite coming agonizingly close to winning his second NASCAR Cup Series championship in three years, Chase Elliott was his usual calm and composed self after he got out of his #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at Phoenix Raceway. Along with appreciating Hendrick Motorsports for their efforts, the 26-year-old also gave credit to Team Penske and said:
"Just wanna say congratulations to Joey and his team, they did a really good job this entire weekend and, I mean he is a very deserving champion and frankly just happy for them. Proud of my team for the effort that they put it in this weekend, I felt like we had got our car a lot better throughout the race and you know for that I think we should be very proud."
With the 2022 season of racing already behind us, NASCAR will be seen going live from the LA Coliseum in February next year.
