Damage Forces Early Exit for Chase Elliott at Clash
The NASCAR Cup Series kicked off the 2024 season with the Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a non-points paying exhibition event. With rain forecasted for Sunday and beyond, NASCAR officials made the call to move the race to Saturday evening. Chase Elliott and the NAPA Auto Parts team qualified 14th for the 150-lap main event during Saturday afternoon’s group time trial sessions.
At the drop of the green flag in Saturday’s Clash, Elliott propelled his way forward. He reached the 10th position by lap 49 and was in that same spot when the first caution flag of the night waved on lap 70. The Dawsonville, Georgia, native reported to crew chief Alan Gustafson that his NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 had gotten tight during the run. On the restart, Elliott battled hard for position and was scored 12th when another caution came out on lap 74. With caution laps not counting, the field went back to green for one more circuit before the halfway break of the race at lap 75.
Elliott headed to the attention of his crew during the timed break and drove back out on the track to restart from the 13th position on lap 76. Contact with another car caused damage to the NAPA Chevrolet’s suspension, which Elliott reported to his team after a separate incident brought out the yellow flag on lap 77. The 2020 Cup Series champion limped the No. 9 Chevy to the infield for repairs, but there was too much damage to the suspension for him to return to the track. As a result, Elliott was relegated to a 22nd-place finish.
Start / Finish: 14 / 22
Next Race: Sunday, February 18, Daytona 500
How to Watch or Listen: 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN or SiriusXM
NAPA: @NAPARacing
Chase Elliott: @ChaseElliott
Hendrick Motorsports: @TeamHendrick
No. 9 Team: @Hendrick9Team
Hendrick Motorsports View All
Founded by Rick Hendrick in 1984, Hendrick Motorsports is the winningest team in NASCAR Cup Series history. At the sport’s premier level, the organization holds the all-time records in every major statistical category, including championships (14), points-paying race victories (312) and laps led (more than 82,000). It has earned at least one race win in a record 40 different seasons, including an active streak of 39 in a row (1986-2024). Headquartered in Concord, North Carolina, the team fields four full-time entries in the NASCAR Cup Series, including the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet driven by 2020 champion Chase Elliott.