Renowned for his two victories at the 2.66-mile Talladega circuit, Chase Elliott, however, did not experience one of his finest moments at the 2024 fall race at this superspeedway. The Hendrick Motorsports driver found himself part of the largest-ever wreck in the track’s history, involving 28 cars in October. The catastrophe caused massive confusion among track workers, drivers, and their teams concerning who was being towed when and where.
Elliott recollects the chaos in a conversation from the No. 9 team radio, “Is everybody just sitting back there in their car waiting to get moved?” inquired spotter Trey Poole. “Yeah,” Elliott replied, “Everybody’s just spinning their wheels, turning in circles, can’t go anywhere. Stuck in the grass. Stuck on the asphalt.”
In a recent interaction with Fox’s Bob Pockrass about the incident, Chase Elliott recounted with a humorous touch the chaotic scene. The 2020 Cup Series champ was asked about his strategy in case a similar situation arises again and how he aims to stand out for faster towing. “Great question,” Elliott said grinning, “I wish someone could have been sitting in my seat in the fall. We looked like a bunch of clowns. It was epic. There were 10 of us sitting down there in the grass. And we’re all arguing, pleading our case, yelling and screaming. Just silly.”
Chase gives high significance to the upcoming event and wishes to avoid another debacle as NASCAR is gearing to return from its lone off-week of the 2025 season. The race coverage begins at 3 p.m. ET on Fox. Elliott hopes to claim his third career win at Talladega in this rousing comeback.
