Chase Elliott reveals why he doesn't worry about Next Gen car, tire changes

When it comes to tires and changes to the Next Gen car as a whole, Chase Elliott might have ideas, but he isn’t worrying about it. Elliott is there to drive the car that NASCAR and Hendrick Motorsports say he has to drive. From there, his job is to make that car go fast.

We have heard from many drivers over the last few years regarding the Next Gen car. Ideas about horsepower, tires, aero packages, diffusers, and more. Denny Hamlin has clearly been at the forefront of that with his podcast and outward media presence.

Then you have drivers like Chase Elliott. You won’t hear him chime in much about car and tire changes. He talked about why that is with Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports on Friday before Cup Series practice at Bristol.

“Always good to try to improve, and who knows what that is?” Elliott said. “It might not look any different, and it might look completely different. I don’t think anyone has those answers. Hopefully, we have a few more answers than we have right now, you know, after we get done practicing. Certainly, there’s a lot of unknowns from kind of the rumor mill.

“And I thought, I caught a little bit of the Truck [Series] race here last night, and it looked really normal to me, honestly. I actually felt like they moved up to the top quicker than I had seen that race do in the past. So, yeah, I don’t know. I’m up for trying it. Hopefully, it goes better, and if it doesn’t, we’ll reevaluate.”

It is no secret that Chase Elliott keeps to himself for the most part. That doesn’t mean he isn’t looking and paying attention. He just isn’t going to waste his time and energy on those extra things.

“I’m not going to stress over it. Because I have no control over it,” Elliott said when asked if he handles changes to the car better than others. “Why am I going to stress over something that I have no say-so in, I have no decision, I have no part in the decision, and I’m totally okay with that. You know, it’s not up to me to decide. And I’m not an expert in manufacturing tires, and I’m not going to act like that I am. Just like, I don’t know what the fix is for the car.

“You know, I think we all have ideas and opinions and things we want to see better, but man, I think if you sit here and act like you have all the answers, one hundred percent, then boy, you’re either really smart or…I don’t know. But I certainly don’t have all the answers. It’s just not an area that I have any say-so in, and I think for me it’s more productive to just try to focus on the things that are in my control and try to go as fast as possible and adapt to whatever it is that we’re faced with.”

So, that probably means no Chase Elliott podcast any time soon. Jokes aside, is this a subtle jab at drivers like Denny Hamlin who constantly comment on the car and what it needs to improve? Or is it just Elliott speaking his mind about this topic?

Drivers like Ross Chastain have expressed similar sentiments when asked about changes to the car. Whether it is a new tire or more horsepower, everyone is going to hop in the driver’s seat and try to be the fastest within the rules package. So, why worry about the details?