Chase Elliott reacts to Talladega wreck, having 'one more shot' at Martinsville

Chase Elliott has done a solid job this season of steering clear of incidents on the racetrack. Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, he was unable to.

Elliott was collected in the eight-car, Lap 52 wreck in the Round of 8 playoff race. Erik Jones made the initial contact with Noah Gragson who collided with AJ Allmendinger, sending him into the wall. As the field was looking to swerve through the chaos in front of them, Austin Cindric turned down into Elliott and sent him spinning.

There was nothing Elliott could do. He was riding around in the back and in his own words, not “doing anything wild or crazy.” His No. 9 Chevrolet sustained significant damage, ending his day early.

Not much that Chase Elliott could do. Will need to win at Martinsville: pic.twitter.com/ImfATxE7OV

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) October 19, 2025

“Unless we won today, we were gonna likely be in a very similar position next week. I hate it, but I don’t know what you do about these situations,” Elliott said, via Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “We weren’t back there doing anything wild or crazy, it just turned sideways and slid into the wreck. I don’t know.

“I’m kind of thinking back through it, I wish I could have done something different, but I don’t really know what I would have done. I was just trying to get slowed up, so.”

Chase Elliott’s championship hopes take a big hit at Talladega

The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion came into the race 23 points below the cutline, needing a good day at Talladega to put himself in good shape going into next Sunday’s Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway. It’s worst-case scenario for Elliott, who will certainly be in a must-win situation at Martinsville to advance to the Championship 4.

Elliott has a good track record at Martinsville. He has one win and is riding a three-race streak of top 5s.

“I’m looking forward to Martinsville,” Elliott said. “We got one more shot at it.”