If you are a Chase Elliott or Hendrick Motorsports fan, today is not a great day for you. This is a tough pill to swallow. Elliott, NASCAR's Most Popular Driver for eight years in a row, lost the Daytona 500 in heartbreaking fashion.
Jeff Gordon was on Chase Elliott's pit box and was watching the race from there. His reaction to the finish was captured by a FOX cameraman. As the leaders came out of Turn 4, it looked like Elliott had it, then things went south quickly.
Even if he hadn't wrecked, Tyler Reddick had side-drafted and was likely going to beat Elliott regardless. Still, the wreck was just insult to injury. The reaction was Jeff Gordon in real time shows just how high the emotions were running on Sunday.
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Jeff Gordon has seen his share of heartbreaking finishes in NASCAR. Both as a driver and now as a team executive, Gordon has been part of a lot of great races. Sometimes you end up on the positive side of that equation, sometimes the negative.
Chase Elliott was so close. It felt like he was in control for most of the last lap. Once Carson Hocevar and others wrecked on the backstretch, it was his race to lose. Then, Riley Herbst was able to get a run and push Tyler Reddick. Once Reddick got to Elliott's inside, it was almost a done deal.
Tough break for Elliott and that No. 9 team. A big wreck to end the race. That's Daytona, folks.