NASCAR: Mario Andretti praises Chase Elliott’s valiant Charlotte comeback
By Asher Fair
Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500 champion Mario Andretti was on hand at the Charlotte Motor Speedway roval to drive the pace car ahead of the NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at the track, and he praised Chase Elliott’s valiant comeback effort that resulted in the race win.
After two-time IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden ran exhibition laps around the Charlotte Motor Speedway roval in an IndyCar on Friday evening following the qualifying session for Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Cup Series race at the track, the IndyCar theme continued with four-time champion Mario Andretti driving the pace car ahead of this race.
Andretti, who also won the 1967 Daytona 500 in what was one of his 14 career NASCAR starts, drove the Toyota Camry XSE pace car to lead the field to the green flag to get this 109-lap Bank of America Roval 400 around the 17-turn, 2.28-mile (3.669-kilometer) Charlotte Motor Speedway roval in Concord, North Carolina underway.
The 1969 Indianapolis 500 champion, 1978 Formula 1 champion and overall racing legend remaining on hand for this race, which was the third and final race of the opening round of the four-round, 10-race playoffs.
He, like everybody else, watched as race leader Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports drove his #9 Chevrolet into the turn one tire barrier on a lap 66 restart after leading 29 laps.
The leader goes into the wall! @chaseelliott can't make the first turn on the restart! #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/YYKTPiRR8z
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 29, 2019
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At this point, it appeared as though the 23-year-old Dawsonville, George native’s chances to win the race were shot. But his crew repaired his car and sent him back out in 31st place for the ensuing restart.
Elliott was able to carve his way through the field, and after restarting in third place on the final restart with six laps remaining, he blew by both Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr. for second and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick for the race lead.
He held on to win by 3.016 seconds over teammate Alex Bowman in second place.
Andretti was among many to praise Elliott for his valiant comeback effort, and he did so in an interesting way.
Hey @chaseelliott you had them covered so bad that I think you stuffed it on that restart on purpose so you could show them you could come back from last and still win it. Huge, huge congrats to you and team. @CLTMotorSpdwy #NASCARonNBC
— Mario Andretti (@MarioAndretti) September 29, 2019
I guess anything’s possible, right? I mean, he did go from 31st place to the race lead in a road course race at what is considered the toughest track on the schedule in a matter of only 39 laps, and nobody had anything for him all race long.
Elliott responded, but he kept it real with Andretti.
I wish I could say that, thanks legend.
— Chase Elliott (@chaseelliott) September 30, 2019
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Chase Elliott and 11 other drivers are slated to move on to the round of 12 of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, which is scheduled to get underway this Sunday, October 6 with the Drydene 400 at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware. This race is set to be broadcast live beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.