FORT WORTH, Texas — Chase Elliott, who entered Sunday’s second-round playoff race at Texas Motor Speedway leading the points, crashed and finished 32nd.
A right rear tire issue caused Elliott to lose control while leading on Lap 184 of the 334-lap race.
He was the second playoff driver to be eliminated after tire issues. Christopher Bell finished 34th after having two right rear tires go down. After his second tire went down, Bell hit the wall. Cole Custer and Alex Bowman also had incidents after tire issues.
“I’m not sure that Goodyear is at fault. Goodyear always takes the black eye, but they’re put in a really tough position by NASCAR to build a tire that can survive these types of racetracks with this car,” Elliott said. “I wouldn’t blame Goodyear.”
Elliott did not score stage points in the first stage and was eliminated before the end of the second stage, leaving him with no stage points.
“It’s not a great position to be in for sure, but it is what it is now,” Elliott said. “I hate it for our No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet team. We were actually decent here for once, so that was nice while it lasted. We’ll go to Talladega (Superspeedway) try to get a win and go on down the road.”
Bell also scored no stage points. Bell entered the race in a three-way tie for the final three transfer spots to the next round.
“To have two right rears go in the first half of the race is very strange,” Bell said. “I don’t know. It’s a very disappointing day. We are probably going to be in a deep hole now.”
The second round continues next Sunday at Talladega and concludes Oct. 9 at the Charlotte Roval.
Chase Elliott is OUT.#NASCARPlayoffs // @USA_Network pic.twitter.com/QuytHp1b0Q
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 25, 2022
