Chase Elliott, Joey Logano rev up for Daytona 500 with Xfinity finish
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The right rear quarter panel of Chase Elliott’s car — bent, scarred and defaced with paint from another car — told the story of the race.
It also told another story: The rookie on the pole position for the Daytona 500 is capable of winning races at Daytona International Speedway.
Elliott, the 20-year-old son of 1988 Winston Cup champion Bill Elliott, placed a timely fender-bending block on Sprint Cup veteran Joey Logano in the final yards Saturday to win the Powershares QQQ 300, the NASCAR Xfinity Series race that serves as a setup for Sunday’s 58th Daytona 500.
As the two cars approached the finish line and Logano tried to gain momentum on Elliott’s No. 88 Chevrolet on the outside, Elliott let his car drift up, making contact with the left front fender of Logano’s No. 22 Ford. The nudge was enough to let Elliott reach the line 0.043 seconds ahead.
“I tried to follow him back up (the track), but I didn’t get up soon enough to get in front of his nose,” Elliott said. “We hit, and I thought we were wrecked. Fortunately we didn’t, but I didn’t know if we were going to make it across the line or what was going to happen.”
Logano, the defending Daytona 500 winner and one of Sunday’s favorites, struggled to come to terms with the razor-thin margin.
“II finished second again,” Logano said. “It sucks. I don’t know how else to put it.”
Technically a rookie in NASCAR’s highest level, Elliott has five Cup races and 67 Xfinity Series races plus the 2014 Xfinity Series championship to his credit. He signed to replace Jeff Gordon in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet as Gordon was preparing to retire last season, then drove the car to the 500 pole position last Sunday.
Elliott downplayed the impact of Saturday’s victory on Sunday’s race, pointing out the differences in the aerodynamics of the Xfinity and Cup cars.
“This success of today doesn’t have any guarantee (on tomorrow),” Elliott said. “The drafting in these two cars is very different. It’s hard to compare a whole lot.”
PHOTOS: Behind the wheel with Chase Elliott
Logano, who dealt with accusations of rough driving last year, didn’t see anything wrong with Elliott’s move but admitted the contact ended his chances.
“The contact is what killed me there,” Logano said. “It killed my forward momentum I needed to be able to pass him by the time we got to the line. I just couldn’t do it.”
Aside from Elliott, the result also proved positive for another favorite to win Sunday’s race. Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports cars — including Elliott’s — took three of the top four positions. Kasey Kahne finished third in the No. 5 car, while Elliott Sadler finished fourth in the No. 1 car.
“You saw speed in all the cars, so the guys really worked hard in the shop and worked together,” Earnhardt said. “We came down here and had good speed across the board. All the drivers drove really smart, and I thought Chase did what he had to do at the end of the race.”
Austin Dillon finished fifth, followed by Darrell Wallace Jr. When asked what he was trying to accomplish on the hectic final lap, Wallace responded:
“Survive. I knew the 22 was fast. He was the class of the field. I got to third. Our game plan was to ride there. We finally got to third on that last restart, and I rode there. I think our biggest goal was to finish. We have to finish one of these things. This brings some light to us, so it’s good.”
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PHOTOS: 2016 Xfinity Series opener at Daytona