Kyle Larson may have wrested the mantle of championship favorite from reigning Cup Series champion Chase Elliott. But the roar of the crowd at Road America made one thing clear this July 4th: Elliott remains NASCAR's Most Popular Driver.
The crowd went so nuts over Elliott's second victory of the season, the first Cup race at this track in 65 years, that he was goaded into multiple burnouts that blew out his tires while celebrating.
"I don't know that I've ever had that much peer pressure in my life to do a burnout," Elliott said. "Literally that place was packed. All these people are chanting 'burnout' at me. I wasn't going to say no… you have to enjoy these moments. They're way too hard to get."
Most would say Elliott has underachieved this season, suffering through a three-week stretch with more DNQs (1) than top-10 finishes before Road America's win. He sits sixth in the standings, far behind more trendy title picks like Larson and Kyle Busch.
But Sunday was a reminder of how Elliott can be unstoppable on road courses.
Qualifying just 34th, he methodically raced through the pack and built a rhythm as the race went on. Once grabbing the lead on lap 38, he paced the field for 24 of the last 25 laps, winning by a comfortable 5.7 seconds.
"About halfway," he said, "I felt like I started to kind of put things together, start minimizing some mistakes I'd been making all weekend, then started finding some pace. So, yeah, after that it got fun."
It leaves every other driver fearful of Elliott's momentum. It's his seventh career road course victory, putting him third on the sport's all-time list behind Jeff Gordon (9) and Tony Stewart (8). With three road courses left on the schedule, it's not inconceivable he could get to double digits before the year is out.
"I honestly don't know, man," says Elliott when asked about his road course strength. "I have no idea. I just feel like it's good cars. I feel like drivers are only as good as what they have to drive. Fortunately, I feel like I've got the best stuff and just got to make it work."
Hendrick has backed that up with their 10th win in 20 races, the most for them since 2014, which puts their entire quartet in position to make the Championship 4.
So how's this easy path for an Elliott playoff run?
- Round of 16: Wins Bristol Night race (Elliott won the All-Star Race there last year)
- Round of 12: Wins Charlotte ROVAL (two-time defending champ)
- Round of 8: Wins Martinsville (defending champ, second in the spring to Martin Truex, Jr.)
That's all he'd need to make a second straight Championship 4 appearance. And once we get to Phoenix Raceway? All bets are off with the crowd certain to give Elliott a little extra boost.
Traffic Report
Green: Road America -- The fans were plentiful, the racing unpredictable (until Elliott got out front) and plenty of passing opportunities abound on this 4.048-mile road course. Expect this track to remain on the NASCAR Cup schedule for 2022 and beyond.
Yellow: Chase Briscoe -- You can give credit to this rookie in the midst of an awful season. Briscoe's sixth-place result was his best of 2021. But his engine shut off on the final lap, costing him a first ever top-5 finish in Cup. And despite jumping up to 23rd in the standings, he remains an insurmountable 126 points behind a NASCAR playoff spot.
Red: Michael McDowell -- The magic of McDowell's Cinderella Daytona 500 victory has finally worn off. Contact led to damage that hampered his run at Road America, late pit strategy gone bad leaving him 30th in the final rundown. That's his season-worst sixth straight finish outside the top 15 as Front Row Motorsports turns itself back into a pumpkin.
Speeding Ticket: Martin Truex Jr -- Truex was busted for a pit road speeding penalty, costing him precious track position before Road America's final stage. He battled back to eighth yet has to wonder what might have been with one of the fastest cars all race long. It's also the third pit penalty overall in the last four races; Truex is without a top-5 finish in any of them. Can the driver with the second-most playoff points this season find his championship mojo?
Oops!
With all Hendrick drivers running up front, contact is going to be inevitable. A little teammate drama finally unfolded late at Road America when Alex Bowman's brakes gave out, spinning out Larson in front of him.
Brake issues for Alex Bowman. A spin for Kyle Larson. pic.twitter.com/rmFGM1lJd7
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) July 4, 2021
The incident dropped both outside the top 20, but Larson received the most long-term damage. With Denny Hamlin fifth, he was able to maintain the regular season point lead (along with the crucial playoff bonus that comes with it).
Everyone is doing all the right things thus far: Bowman apologized while Larson largely avoided the subject in public, focusing on Hamlin's aggression in the points battle.
"There's a tremendous amount of respect between our drivers, crew chiefs and teams," said HMS Vice President of Competition Chad Knaus. "It was unfortunate. It was a racing situation. But we'll get home, talk about it, make sure there's nothing ill willed that comes out of it."
