NASCAR
Chase Elliott Candidly Admits Mistake After Pushing Camera: ‘Not a Wise Move’
Kyle Dalton began covering sports in 1992 after he graduated from the University of Texas school of journalism. He published his book Burned Orange: Tom Penders and 10 Years at the University of Texas in 2000, and joined Sportscasting in 2020. Kyle expertly covers the NFL, NASCAR, and NCAA football. Kyle finds inspiration in the unscripted drama of sports, the compelling journeys and life stories of the athletes who play the games, and he enjoys reading the work of Mitch Albom. He is a rabid consumer of all sports on all platforms: TV, Twitter, podcasts, live events, and more.
All posts by Kyle DaltonUpdated17 Oct 2022
Chase Elliott has more wins this year than any other driver and won the regular season title. Despite that success, the Hendrick Motorsports driver has shown more emotion this year than in years past.
Last week after a disappointing finish at the Charlotte Roval, the 26-year-old let his emotions get the best of him when he pushed away a camera and directed the operator away. This week at Las Vegas, the driver was asked about the incident and candidly admitted that his move the week before was a mistake.
Chase Elliott pushes away camera
Chase Elliott appeared to be destined for his sixth win of the season last week on the Roval when a late caution came out for a runaway sign that had managed to find its way onto the track surface. That caution changed everything and due to a variety of circumstances, including getting caught up in a wreck during the overtime restart, Elliott finished 20th.
Several minutes after the race, with media members interviewing drivers on pit road, Elliott chatted with HMS teammate William Byron when an NBC cameraman approached from behind. He focused on the two drivers for several seconds before Elliott noticed him, turned, put his hand on the camera, and pushed it away.
A second later, after the cameraman had backed up a step and stopped, Elliott took a couple of steps toward him, signaling for the cameraman to go away.
Elliott admits move was a mistake
This week before the Las Vegas race, Elliott visited with reporters and talked about the first race in the Round of 8. After acknowledging to one reporter that he hadn’t heard from NASCAR about the camera push, another asked him about the move itself.
“Probably not a wise move on my behalf, but, you know, I asked the guy to give us a little space and he didn’t really,” Elliott said. “You know, look, frustration after a tough race. But yes, to answer your question, probably not the right move for me to make.”
Frustrated after Vegas
After Sunday’s race, where Elliott finished 21st — his third race of 20th or worse in his last four events (won at Talladega) — the HMS driver once again couldn’t hide his frustration.
“I just did a really bad job, obviously, missing something at a place like this to compete with the gentlemen that know what they’re doing,” he told Fox’s Bob Pockrass. “Homestead is definitely different but I need to reevaluate just myself in general to have a shot next week.”
Elliott’s recent results and his latest harsh self-critique don’t bode well for the three remaining Cup races. If there’s any positive to take away, at least there were no cameras pushed during the broadcast.
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