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Chase Elliott Interview Following His Win at Kansas | VICTORY LAP

Chase Elliott Interview Following His Win at Kansas | VICTORY LAP

Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour presented by NASCAR on FOX Sep 29, 2025 11 min
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Chase Elliott reflects on his recent win at Kansas, discussing the challenges and strategies during the final laps, including his qualifying struggles and race mindset. He highlights the importance of his team's consistency, pit crew performance, and car adjustments. Elliott also talks about his mustache as a good luck charm and shares insights on the upcoming Roval race, emphasizing its unique challenges and his approach to the playoffs. He expresses confidence in his team's potential for the next races, focusing on smart racing and seizing opportunities to advance.

Topics: race strategy qualifying challenges team consistency pit crew performance mustache superstition roval race playoff mindset road course racing next gen car performance race preparation
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Terms and conditions apply. Whether we got out there with a fourth or fifth or a win, I thought
it was a great weekend for us. Anybody in that top eight can get hot for a couple weeks and I think
we're capable of doing that too. Well, Chase, congratulations man. That was a wild last
couple laps. And I know you guys have talked a lot about qualifying. You guys were in the game
all weekend, started up in the front. But did you ever think that you had a chance right there at
the end with, with starting 10th?
Went in. You know, my mindset was the two restarts before that had not gone very well.
And the car, we got quick caution. So I was giving up lanes to take the outside. And
that's the, that's the risk, right? You know, you get a quick caution and you're going to lose the
spots that you gave up to take the preferred lane. Unfortunately, that was exactly what happened.
So yeah, it was eighth and, you know, felt like I had to give up a row to get to 10th.
Just didn't feel good about being stuck on the bottom in that situation. I thought the
only way for me to take advantage of our four tires was to be up top. So
yeah, in my head, I was kind of thinking, man, if we can just get back to
fourth or fifth or something, you know, that would be a really good restart to come from,
come from 10th. And yeah, just got them rolling up top, opportunities kept opening up. And
yeah, next thing you know, I drove off into three and kind of saw those guys start to
start to ship it in there and thought, man, might have a shot to maybe get three wide
with them on exit. It was kind of my thinking just to have a slight chance. And yeah,
fortunately it just kept getting better. So we'll, we'll take it.
That's right. Well, you, you get, you're on a bad side of it sometimes on a good side of it
and take it, take it while you can. I think, you know, when, when I look at, when I look
at your season, um, you guys are, in my opinion, the most consistent car, you have the least
amount of mistakes. You have the least amount of failures. The speed has been, you know,
here or there, but it seems like over the, over the last several weeks, the speed has been
really good. And maybe some of that is from just because we see it at the end of the race and,
and you've talked about the, the qualifying piece of it. Where, where do you assess where
you are right now? Because I feel like the speed's better. You're qualified, good. And
I just feel like you guys make, you know, you're more of a traditional type racer and,
and you get more out of the day than most. Is that where you think you are with everything
or, or how would you assess everything at this point?
I think that's fair. You know, I've been very vocal and honest about our qualifying struggles and,
and, uh, I think that starts with me, truthfully. And, and, uh, I, I said it, you know, after
the race, but I was, if we had gotten out of there where, where we were going to finish,
which was going to be about fourth, you know, if we didn't get that late caution,
um, fourth or fifth, you know, somewhere inside the top five,
I thought it was a great weekend for us, honestly, because, you know, I thought that was the first
time in a long time we showed up, had good pace off the truck. I felt really prepared from my
perspective. Um, you know, our balance wasn't even the best, but we still had good pace in our car.
We went out there and, and had a really good qualifying effort. Got ourselves inside the top,
you know, solidly inside the top 10. Got a good pit pick. I think, you know, all those
things, as you know, you just start stacking on top of each other. We have a great pit
crew. Those guys have not had an opportunity to showcase their talents because I'm, you know,
qualifying last and putting them in positions where we're having to come around somebody and then
somebody has to come around us, you know, and you're just setting them up for failure. Um,
when you do that, so in getting that good qualifying effort, we got them an opening in.
I had the car position where it needed to be and, and, you know, look what they did. They
had a great day, kept us in the game, um, allowed us to make adjustments and just keep
chipping away at making our car better and, and more, you know, more competitive at the end of
those long runs throughout the day. Kind of tried to play the race to our strengths and we had good
short run pace. Um, certainly had, had room for improvement. I'll be the first one to tell you
that we need to be better on the long haul, but, um, I thought we closed the gap a lot,
you know, throughout the course of the event to, you know, to, um, to Denny and, and Bell.
And, um, you know, we were, we were getting ourselves in the game and, and, you know,
like you said, we had it, had it go our way there at the end, but I was going to be proud of our
day and our weekend, regardless what, whether we got out there with a fourth or fifth or a win.
I thought it was a really good weekend for us as a, as a team and collectively,
just as a group executing a really good day. So you've got this mustache thing going on
right here. I guess that's, that's, that's got to stay for the, for the rest of the playoffs now.
It seems like it's all, it seems like it's all going pretty good. Or is there some sort of plan
or is this just, it's just just something to do right now?
Yeah. Mustache thing. That's probably a good, a good thing to call it at this current, uh,
point. But yeah, I don't know, man. I was, um, I just felt like I needed to,
I needed some magic somewhere, you know, so at some point in time, I had to,
I had to make sure before the season was over, I was going to try everything I possibly could
to try and turn things around. If it meant this mustache thing coming back, that's
what it was going to be. So, um, here it is. I guess it has to stay a few more weeks. I'm not
super thrilled about that. It's kind of annoying. Um, but if it makes us go fast, I'll, I'll
hold on to it. I like it. I wouldn't shave it off until, until things don't go your way.
So maybe you can get a little curl or curl or something going at, at the end of it here.
As you look at, as you, yeah, whatever it takes at this point in the year, I think for sure.
Um, obviously you're in a good position for the, for the roval this weekend.
What makes that, what makes that place so much different and putting it in this particular
weekend? A, how much stress does it take off of you guys? And B, just why is the roval,
why does it seem to be just always chaos and, and everything that, that goes on there?
I don't, I don't really know why it's been like that, you know, for a lot of the trips that we've
been. Um, I know they're early on the racetrack had some nuances that were just different and
probably a little uncomfortable inside the car or the way the corners were. And, uh, and still
are, you just don't have a lot of outs. Um, there's not a lot of, you know, like most
road courses, as you know, you go places and if you blow a corner, there might be a grassy
area or something where you can kind of get away and, you know, spin out or run off the road.
And there's really just not a lot of room to, to miss a corner and not hit something there.
And I think that's probably part of the reason, but, um, I think as it pertains to us and, and
why, you know, yesterday was such a big deal is especially that race and that racetrack,
the way it's laid out and the way the race goes, having the ability to jump those stages or
it's really huge. Um, and, you know, for us, uh, most of the time when we, when we've gone to the
Roval or over the past number of years, we've been in a position where we're having the points race
and, um, that puts you in a spot where you can't jump stages because you can't give up
the potential points that you could get by running to the end of it. And in doing that,
you're kind of letting the, you know, letting the wind slip away. Uh, in, in most cases,
there are circumstances where you could jump or you could run through the stages and still have
a shot to win, but the odds are not in your favor. So, um, I'm excited to, you know, to get over
there and just be able to go for an outright win on a road course and not worry about the stage
points and, you know, not mess with that stuff. So, um, we've had good pace there the last
couple of years thought we've had a legit chance of winning that race straight up on speed
a couple of times over the last two or three seasons. Um, would love to get a next gen
win on a road course. That's been something I want to accomplish. Um, at, at some point,
hopefully sooner rather than later. And, uh, this weekend would be a good time for it.
So as you look to the next round, obviously, you know, that's it for you, it's, it's really,
that's the focus. I know you want to get, you know, stage points or, you know, win
the race this weekend to get some, some bonus points. Where do you think the,
the strength is for you going into those, those next three races as you go into the, into the
round of eight?
Well, I think it starts this weekend, truthfully. I mean, I would like to get five more points,
you know, and that would be, that would be the, the first goal that I have in mind. I'm,
you probably know me well enough to know I'm a, I'm a week to week person and, um,
you know, my mindset right now is how, how can I position our team to get five more
points this week? And, and that's going to do nothing, but just help us when we get to,
you know, get to Vegas. Um, so, you know, as it pertains to the next round, I feel
like Vegas has been a little bit of a struggle for us, but we have had some high spots. I
thought we had a really respectable run going there last fall. Um, another, uh,
step in the right direction of improvement this past spring. And, you know, certainly I think
with our, um, our performance at Kansas this weekend, I think some of that can translate to,
to Vegas too, Talladega. I mean, that, that deal is going to be about, you know, who,
who doesn't crash. Um, I think at the end of the day, and if you can luck up and get a
win at that deal, then fantastic. Uh, but, you know, certainly going to have to, you know,
do your very best there to be smart and keep yourself in a good spot. And, um, I feel very
confident we can go to Martinsville and have a shot to win. So, um, yeah, I'm looking forward
to it. Honestly, I mean, I think the, the, the big one's just Talladega and, and, and
what's going to happen there and whether or not we can get through the mess. And
I feel like if we can do that, we have a real shot to, to make it to Phoenix. And,
you know, like I said, after the race, it's just about the way this format is.
And you think about 10 weeks and how long that, you know, just of a timeframe that is a lot can
change, you know, you can hit on something or get better or it's all about just buying
your, buying yourself and your team more time. Like the more time I think we buy ourselves,
the more opportunities, opportunities you have, and you just never know what can happen. And,
you know, anybody in that top eight can get hot for a couple of weeks. And I think we're
capable of doing that too. Well, you guys are, are, are doing a good job. You got yourself back to
victory lane. I just, my, my only hope is that it just goes all the way to Phoenix and you don't
have to shave that mustache because I want to see what it looks like. So good luck and, and hopefully,
don't you shave that thing off until it goes bad.
No, I'm not going to get rid of it, but I'm a little nervous as to what it
would look like at the end of another month. But, uh, yeah, I'm willing to find out. So
I'll, I'll, uh, I'll take your advice on this one. We'll, we'll ride it out.
I like it. Well, good luck, man. Congratulations. And, uh, good luck this weekend at the Roval.
Appreciate it.
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