When Chase Elliott got here to Dover’s NASCAR All-Star Race, he was already part of the primary occasion. Nevertheless, within the opening section itself, his evening was over. Two multi-car wrecks destroyed the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and left Elliott with a Thirty third-place end in NASCAR’s $1 million exhibition race.
The irritating half for Elliott was that this harm occurred earlier than his staff even had an opportunity to see what potential their automotive had.
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“Yeah, it began sliding down the monitor, and I used to be simply gonna lengthy drive,” Elliott defined afterward. “Doing a little completely different stuff there, clearly attempting to determine the place you’re gonna reset and all these issues.”
“Earlier than the wreck, spun there on the primary lap after which needed to put our scuff set of tires on,” he stated. “It was simply sort of foolish, proper? We removed them, and we didn’t actually do something improper.”
For Elliott, the difficulty began instantly. On lap 2, Ryan Preece clipped Todd Gilliland whereas racing three-wide off Flip 4. Gilliland then obtained into Kyle Larson’s approach, triggering a nine-car pileup, and in addition pulled in Elliott and Ryan Blaney. NASCAR red-flagged the race for over half-hour, and the crew cleaned up particles and extinguished a hearth on the No. 26 automotive.
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Elliott got here out of that crash with manageable harm, however his technique had already taken successful. The No. 9 staff had already burned by way of the tire stock early and needed to swap to a scuffed set as a substitute of a contemporary one. That call, despite the fact that pressured, turned a giant subject in a while.
When six laps had been left within the opening 75-lap section, one other wreck occurred in entrance of Elliott. Alex Bowman obtained into Riley Herbst. The pack stacked up once more, and vehicles slid down proper into Elliott’s lane. It was the second hit that parked Elliott’s automotive within the storage.
Trying on the greater image, this appears to be extra irritating. Chevrolet groups got here to Dover attempting to enhance their short-track package deal, particularly after NASCAR moved such tracks, together with Bristol, into the brand new low-downforce, 750-horsepower setup for 2026. Now, by way of the race, Elliott nonetheless appears to be confused about what occurred.
“I do know that the Chevrolet guys have been attempting to determine learn how to make the short-track deal any higher,” he stated.
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Mockingly, Dover has been one in every of Elliott’s stronger tracks. Earlier than the All-Star Race, he had received there twice, had 11 top-10 finishes in 15 begins, and led greater than 630 laps. Because of this his being parked out early seems like a giant deal. The No. 9 automotive by no means obtained an opportunity to settle into the race rhythm. Nevertheless, outdoors of the All-Star Race, Chase Elliott’s automotive appears to be one of many strongest this season in NASCAR.
Why Chase Elliott’s 2026 Chevrolet is a Critical Title Menace
To grasp this, we’ll must look again earlier than the season commenced. For 2026, Chevrolet got here out with a redesigned Camaro ZL1 nostril primarily based on the model’s carbon efficiency package deal. As a part of the replace, the automotive’s splitter, grille form, hood airflow, and rocker panels had been all modified.
This was an try to vary how the entrance finish of Elliott’s automotive behaved. And that’s fairly important as a result of he depends extra on front-end really feel. The earlier Subsequent Gen Chevrolet pressured Elliott into defensive driving most of the time.
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If the nostril misplaced grip, the automotive pushed up the monitor with out warning. This new physique provides him steadier suggestions, particularly when going by way of the corners. To place it merely, the automotive lastly reacts the best way Elliott desires it to.
Plenty of credit score for this additionally goes to crew chief Alan Gustafson. Throughout a January Goodyear tire check at North Wilkesboro, the No. 9 staff spent most of its time finding out airflow and ride-height modifications as a substitute of studying lap instances. They made an aerodynamic pocket book whereas different groups had been nonetheless studying the fundamentals of the brand new physique.
That preparation paid off as soon as NASCAR launched the revised short-track package deal. This season, tracks like Dover, Bristol, and Darlington have with decrease downforce. All of the drivers now want higher throttle management as a result of the automotive strikes round excess of it did earlier than.
However that performs out nicely for Elliott. He’s good at managing the automotive when it feels unstable and wishes finesse. The raised horsepower is useful along with his clean throttle enter and affected person turning across the corners. That model is what obtained Elliott his win at Martinsville earlier this yr.
NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Apply Feb 11, 2026 Daytona Seaside, Florida, USA NASCAR Cup Sequence driver Chase Elliott 9 throughout apply for the Daytona 500 at Daytona Worldwide Speedway. Daytona Seaside Daytona Worldwide Speedway Florida USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xMikexDinovox 20260211_mcd_ad4_33
The brand new Camaro physique additionally gave Hendrick Motorsports a bit extra freedom when it got here to setup than in earlier seasons. Chase Elliott had beforehand complained about NASCAR’s Subsequent Gen platform boxing groups into related setups.
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The up to date nostril lastly created room for groups to separate themselves, and Gustafson picked on that shortly. The No. 9 staff leaned into mechanical grip as a substitute of aero stability at Martinsville.
The aggressive entrance camber settings and suspension geometry let Elliott reduce beneath rivals from the middle off the nook. After that, there was Texas. When Chase Elliott received there, the No. 9 crew delivered its three quickest stops of the whole season. The higher stability of the automotive diminished setup stress and let groups focus extra aggressively on executing their technique and specializing in monitor place.
These numbers present how a lot the mix has improved. By means of 12 races, Elliott is in third place within the Cup standings with two wins, 5 prime fives, and 7 prime 10s. His common end is simply above tenth, top-of-the-line marks within the sequence.
Extra importantly, Hendrick Motorsports now has room to experiment as a result of Elliott has already locked himself into the playoffs with two wins. The No. 9 staff can now spend summer time races testing setups and constructing methods particularly for the postseason.
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