NASCAR CUP SERIES: TOYOTA SAVE MART 350

June 6, 2021

Chase Elliott

Press Conference

Sonoma Raceway

An Interview with:

THE MODERATOR: Thank you for joining us, Chase. We'll go straight into questions for Chase Elliott.

Q. Obviously you and Larson raced each other clean but hard all day. Do you have to race each other differently than if it was another car not on your team?

CHASE ELLIOTT: No, I think it's really more the individual than it is what team you drive for whether or not you get along. Kyle and I have always raced each other with a lot of respect ever since we started racing against each other.

Yeah, all was good. It was fun.

Q. With this run today, back-to-back second-place finishes, do you feel you and your team are starting to get into a rhythm and you can compete with Kyle for some of these wins?

CHASE ELLIOTT: I hope so. We were solid today. Just not good enough at the right times.

But, yeah, no, I feel good about our group. We have a solid group. We just have to put it all together and execute when it counts most.

Q. (Indiscernible)?

CHASE ELLIOTT: I couldn't hear you. Maybe something about the 2019 race.

It was really similar to what I thought we had then. The course layout is a little different. Yeah, I thought it was just like it was here a couple years ago.

Q. What were your initial thoughts about the racetrack for the first several laps?

CHASE ELLIOTT: Asphalt and had left and right turns. I don't know. Looked the same as it had since they built it.

Q. You talked about racing back and forth with Kyle Larson. Where do you feel he was better than you today that ultimately got him the race win?

CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, I don't really know exactly. There were spots on the track where I thought I was a tick better, and there were spots on the track he was better. Then there were spots I thought we were fairly even. Needed to have a tick more to get after it.

Proud of our team. I thought we were solid. Just need a little bit.

Q. It seems this is now the third week in a row we've seen the Hendrick cars battle amongst each other for the win. How do you balance sharing notes between teammates to be strong as a team but secrets yourself to be strong in your own group?

CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, I mean, everything is kind of an open book. It has been since I've been here. We just have to continue to push. I don't think anything really changes there.

THE MODERATOR: Chase, thank you so much. We appreciate your time.

CHASE ELLIOTT: Thank you.