LAS VEGAS — NASCAR Playoffs driver Chase Elliott was an innocent bystander in Jamie McMurray’s misfortunate in Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the postseason opener for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
McMurray spun up the race track in Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 211 as a result of a cut tire. Running the high line through the corner, Elliott slammed into the No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. The incident damaged the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet enough to end his day, finishing 36th.
Immediately after the crash, Elliott radioed to his crew that he was experiencing pain in his shoulder from the contact. Following a trip to the infield care center, Elliott said the pain quickly subsided.
“I’m OK now,” Elliott said. “It popped really big. My hand got caught in the wheel. I got to messing with it after and it popped again. All good and move on to Richmond.”
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Elliott came into the day as the eighth seed of the 16-driver playoff field. The poor result now puts him in 14th place heading into Richmond and the Charlotte road course, the final two races of the first playoff round.
“It puts us in a hole to start, so not good,” Elliott said.
McMurray went on to finish 35th, a disappointing result for what might have been a strong day for the No. 1 team.
“I feel like our whole year has kind of went like that,” McMurray said. “There’s nothing you can do about it. I was thrilled with our speed. …I thought we had a car capable of winning today, so it’s frustrating, but, I mean, it’s much more frustrating to run bad.”