Chase Elliott is a two-time Talladega race winner and has always been strong on the big tracks – like ‘Dega and Daytona International Speedway. But, he conceded, he never knows what to “expect” at these venues in terms of the final run to the finish.
Five of the last eight Talladega races have included an overtime finish – neither of Elliott’s wins (2019 and 2022), however, came with extra laps.
“It’ a 64 dollar question, I don’t know,’’ Elliott said of the situation and being able to plan ahead on the strategy of extra laps or not.
“For me personally, I look at it like it’s going to go to the finish and you try to position yourself where you want to be when you get back to the start-finish line. it’s just really hard thing to guess when a wreck is going to happen, if it’s going to happen. I just don’t know. Ask [Ryan] Blaney. I feel like he’s won the last 15 races.’’
Blaney, who won at Talladega last Fall, was asked about Elliott’s remarks on why he is so good at the big track – in regulation or in overtime. A victory this weekend would mark his fourth at Talladega.
“You never can predict it, I’ve always had that in my head,’’ Blaney said. “You can sit around and predict favorites for these races here for and Daytona and it’s like trying to guess the lottery. You just never know what’s going to happen. My mindset is always just try to stay in the game and just be in position to try and capitalize at the end. We’ve been fortunate here the last handful of times to have a shot to at least run up front and have a shot to win the race.’’
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