Chase Elliott’s NASCAR playoffs journey took a dramatic turn at Bristol Motor Speedway when a crash nearly eliminated him from title contention, yet the Hendrick Motorsports driver managed to advance to the next round by the slimmest of margins. The intense night at the Tennessee short track tested Elliott’s resilience and highlighted how a once-comfortable buffer can rapidly vanish in the high-stakes world of Chase Elliott NASCAR playoffs Bristol competition.
A Tense Night Before Disaster Struck
Heading into Bristol, Elliott carried a solid lead above the Round of 12 cutline and seemed in good position to progress. Despite early handling issues that dropped him a lap behind, Elliott methodically worked to regain track position, aiming to secure his spot in the championship chase. The race’s opening stages were marked by strategic adjustments, as Elliott and his crew tried to find the balance needed to keep pace with the frontrunners.
“Our car was really good for a few laps,”
—Chase Elliott, Driver
After regaining the lead lap, Elliott battled to move closer to the frontrunners. As he closed in on his rivals, further car adjustments were needed to match the leaders’ speed, and his team continued working on handling improvements. Just as Elliott was regaining momentum, misfortune struck: he was hit from behind in Turn 3 by John Hunter Nemechek—who himself had been bumped by Denny Hamlin. The impact sent Elliott’s No. 9 Chevy hard into the outside wall, forcing him out of the race with substantial damage, and ending his on-track efforts for the night.
“Once we did and we got back up towards the front, I just felt like we needed some balance adjustments there once we started running the pace of the leaders. We were working on it and making it better.”
—Chase Elliott, Driver
“I got a huge shot from behind,”
—Chase Elliott, Driver
“I’m not sure if the No. 42 (Nemechek) got pushed in there or he wasn’t expecting me to come back to the bottom or what the reasoning was. But nonetheless, it happened. And it’s done.”
—Chase Elliott, Driver
Playoff Drama and Bristol’s Tough Lessons
The pressure mounted for Elliott after the accident. With nearly 190 laps remaining, his fate rested on whether his points margin would be enough to offset the loss of on-track position and allow him to survive the playoff elimination. In the end, Elliott scraped through as the 11th driver in the advancing dozen, his advantage just sufficient to outlast the four eliminated competitors: Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon, Shane van Gisbergen, and Josh Berry. These drivers came into Bristol needing strong results but failed to close the gap, with Berry’s night ending in a last-place finish for Wood Brothers Racing in Thunder Valley.
Alex Bowman’s eighth-place finish still left him short of advancing, making him the only Hendrick Motorsports driver not to move on. Expressing mixed emotions, Bowman recognized the effort and missed opportunity:
“Just proud of everyone at Hendrick Motorsports for the fight,”
—Alex Bowman, Driver.
“We obviously had a shot at it.”
—Alex Bowman, Driver.
Narrow Margins and What Lies Ahead
As the playoff rounds reset, Elliott shifted up to seventh in the standings for the Round of 12. Despite this improvement over his Round of 16 finish, the new margins are razor-thin. Elliott holds only a five-point lead over Team Penske’s Austin Cindric, who sits just outside the current cutline for the next round. Close behind is Bubba Wallace, trailing Elliott by four points. With such small gaps, every finish in the next set of races, starting at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, will prove critical for Elliott and his team. The tension from Bristol now carries forward, as drivers and teams recalibrate strategies for the demanding path to secure a spot in the championship race.
For now, Elliott’s narrow escape at Bristol keeps him in the title hunt for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series, but the risks and intensity of this playoff format are clear. The unexpected exit of drivers like Austin Dillon and Shane van Gisbergen underscores just how quickly fortunes can shift, and the importance of every point earned or lost. As the chase for the championship continues, Elliott and the remaining contenders know that survival depends on both performance and resilience in the face of relentless competition.
