Missed opportunity. That’s how Chase Elliott will view the Xfinity Series fixture at Pocono Raceway. Starting from pole, the Hendrick Motorsports driver was keen to finally break his winless streak, having won his last race in NASCAR’s second tier at Charlotte Motor Speedway last year. His No. 17 Chevy showed lightning-fast pace at the ‘Trick Triangle,’ with the Georgia native dominating early and leading the opening 20 laps, his longest stint at the front in an Xfinity race since Richmond in September 2015.
But just when it looked like Victory Lane was in his sights, it all came crashing down. An on-track incident with reigning champ Justin Allgaier with just 12 laps to go spoiled the party, forcing Chase Elliott to settle for a fourth-place finish in his last Xfinity Series appearance of the season.
Chase Elliott made the best of a bad situation
Chase Elliott was not going down without a fight. Having led 38 laps at Pocono Raceway, the 29-year-old was determined to do better than his runner-up finish at Darlington Raceway earlier this year. But on lap 88, he found himself side-by-side with Justin Allgaier for a restart, and it became clear things were going to get aggressive. And in the blink of an eye, the JR Motorsports driver overstepped entering Turn 1, and got loose, drifting up the track. To avoid a collision, both drivers were forced to take evasive action, which dropped them from the front row.
Sharing his thoughts about the incident in a post-race interview, Chase Elliott told Frontstretch, “I think he just ran in there too hard and caught a bad section of air or something weird. It got him turned sideways and turned him towards my door really fast. What am I going to do? Either give him space or crowd him and crash. It was up to me at that point whether we were going to have two destroyed race cars. At that point, we were screwed. It’s not worth tearing up this sh-t for no reason.”
The incident allowed Jesse Love and Connor Zilisch to take over the battle for the lead. And even though there was another yellow flag, neither Elliott nor Allgaier had enough time to make their way back to the front. Afterwards, the JR Motorsports veteran was seen walking over to Elliott, and the two engaged in an amicable conversation. While the No. 17 Chevy driver didn’t reveal what was discussed, he was very respectful of the reigning champ, who ended up 10th at Pocono Raceway.
“He just drove it in too hard”
Pole sitter @chaseelliott finished 4th.
Elliott details a late race battle for the lead with Justin Allgaier. pic.twitter.com/qMlRwh53RD
— Frontstretch (@Frontstretch) June 21, 2025
When asked about the conversation, Chase Elliott said, “I have a lot of respect for Justin. We’ve always raced each other with a lot of respect. I don’t have any ill will against him. I hate that he made a mistake with me, considering it’s my last one (Xfinity race) for the year. I was wanting to cash in that one.” While the Xfinity fixture didn’t work out according to plan, the Hendrick Motorsports driver will shift his attention to the Cup Series race on Sunday, hoping to redeem himself at ‘The Great American Getaway 400.’
Elliott sheds light on his winless streak
It’s been a year since Chase Elliott entered Victory Lane, but it doesn’t feel like it. After 16 races into the 2025 campaign, the Georgia native sits fourth in the drivers’ standings, having finished inside the top-20 in every race this year. He holds the third-best average finish of all drivers in the Cup Series. If that’s not consistency, what is? As things stand, he will likely point his way into the playoffs, unless there are several new winners over the next 10 weeks.
But that’s little consolation for Elliott, who desperately wants to break his winless streak. Despite admitting it has been a “good” season so far, the 29-year-old also went on to say, “It’s not where I want to be, no doubt.” Revealing where he has been falling short, the Georgia native said, “I think being up front, having a really good pit stall, keeping yourself up there, it can change the complexion of your day in such a large way that it can really be overlooked. So, I think that would be really top of mind for me as I look at what is one thing that we can do to help ourselves, and I think that is probably it.”
Qualifying is another factor Chase Elliott must prioritize in the upcoming fixtures. All three of his teammates have earned at least one pole position this year, while Elliott’s best Cup Series start was in Martinsville, where he started second. That’s where he led 42 laps and finished fourth. If Elliott can replicate his pole finish at Pocono Raceway in the Cup Series, it’s well within the realm of possibility that his winless streak will be broken once and for all.
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