Some NASCAR Drivers Have ‘Payback’ Lists; Chase Elliott Has The Opposite

For better or for worse, Chase Elliott is one of NASCAR’s good guys.

It’s no secret that NASCAR drivers carry payback lists — mental banks of which drivers did them wrong, so retribution can be delivered. But in a recent interview with Jeff Gluck, Elliott was asked whether he has a list of drivers who’ve done him favors.

And the Hendrick Motorsports driver’s answer shouldn’t surprise you.

“I definitely do, 100 percent,” Elliott told Gluck. “Racing is something that always comes full circle. There’s times if somebody helps you on early on in the race and you have the chance to do the same for them and it makes sense, then sure.

“I think there comes a time in the race where those breaks and the slack are a little more forgiving at the beginning of the day versus what you can do at the end. We all understand that we’ve got to race and it’s hard to be as forgiving toward the end of the races because you’re trying to fight for what you have. But if you’ve got a guy and they’re way better than you and it’s early on in the race, you’re doing nothing but holding both of you up.”

Now, Elliott isn’t exactly squeaky clean, as he actually called Michael McDowell a “dumbass” during the Coke Zero 400.

Still, relative to some of the other drivers in the sport, Elliott’s a choir boy.

Thumbnail photo via Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY Sports Images