Darlington notebook: Blown tire ends rough race outing for Elliott

Chase Elliott’s first Southern 500 didn’t go as well as planned.

Elliott’s No. 25 car blew a right tire on Lap 230, ending his night early.

The night didn’t get off to a good start for Elliott, had to move to the rear of the field after his team made a gear change before the race.

Then on Lap 7, Elliott was involved in a wreck when Brett Moffitt hit the wall which caused Elliott to hit Cole Whitt.

Later on, Elliott was assessed a pair of one-lap penalties for having too many crew members over the wall. But after working on the car, he got back on the lead lap before his tire went down.

“I appreciate everybody’s hard work this weekend,” Elliott said. “We were trying. I messed up there at the beginning of the race and got us behind and you just can’t do stuff like that.”

The Southern 500 was Elliott’s last Cup race until he takes over for Jeff Gordon next season at Hendrick Motorsports. In Elliott’s four previous Cup starts, he had finished 18 or better in three of them.

Tattle tell

Jeff Gordon doesn’t play favorites when it comes to breaking rules.

During Sunday’s Bojangles’ Southern 500, Gordon told NASCAR that his teammate Jimmie Johnson should have been penalized for accelerating before he should have before entering pit road. Johnson passed three cars by accelerating early.

NASCAR warned Johnson for the incident. A few laps later, Johnson lost control and brought out a caution.

What might have been

NASCAR Hall of Famer Leonard Wood doesn’t have too many regrets during his storied career as a crew chief and car owner.

But one thing Wood would have done over again was getting Bobby Allison to drive for the Wood Brothers race team. Allison, who drove for nine different teams in his 27-year driving career, said Sunday he always wanted to drive for the Woods but it never came to pass.

“I told him if he wanted to drive our car anytime day or night, he could,” Wood said. “I’m certainly sorry Bobby Allison never drove our car. He was a great driver.”

Petty reunion

Richard Petty’s 1972 championship team held a reunion Sunday at the track.

Six members of the team and Petty met with the media and hung out with the Petty Motorsports No. 43 team.

More Gordon tributes

Darlington Raceway paid tribute to Jeff Gordon by painting his car No. 24 in big yellow numbers and blue background along the front stretch.

The display also had the years of Gordon’s seven wins at the track. The Hendrick Motorsports driver made his final start at Darlington on Sunday.

Remembering Germain

Several drivers put stickers on their cars in memory of Gail Sommer Germain on Sunday.

Germain, the wife of NASCAR team owner Bob Germain Jr., died Saturday after a long battle with cancer. Germain fields the No. 13 car driven by Casey Mears.

They said it

“He (has) not only been great on the race track but also great off the race track. He is a class individual in every thing he does,” — Ned Jarrett on Jeff Gordon.

“I’m just so happy they have brought the Southern 500 back on Labor Day, because I can just remember so much excitement built up when you come to Darlington on Labor Day.” — Hall of Famer Leonard Wood

“I’m pumped. Go get ’em Brad.” — Bobby Allison on Brad Keselowski, who drove Allison’s old Miller High Life paint scheme Sunday.

“This is one of the highlights of my life.” — Dale Jarrett on broadcasting Sunday’s race with his father, Ned, and Ken Squier.

This story was originally published September 7, 2015 at 1:18 AM with the headline "Darlington notebook: Blown tire ends rough race outing for Elliott."