Chase Elliott faced a tough start to his 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season at the Daytona 500, with the Dawsonville native getting wrecked out of the Great American Race through no fault of his own.

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While the opening half of the Daytona 500 had its fair share of lead changes, there were no caution flags brought out for cause until lap 119 of the 200-mile race. 

Elliott’s day had been mostly uneventful to that point, having started in eighth position before spending much of the race floating between 15th and 20th.

His decision to stay further back could have been to his benefit, but the first major incident of the day eventually caught up to him.

Just before lap 120, Kevin Harvick bumped Tyler Reddick, who then spun out and hit Ryan Blaney, causing a chain reaction. 

Elliott, who at that point was running in 18th, was the final car to face damage in an incident that started all the way up in fifth position. 

Despite his attempts to evade the chaos, Elliott was hit by Erik Jones, who had been pushed into the grass by Kyle Larson and spun into the front left of the No. 9.

Elliott would not return to the race due to the damage done to the vehicle. 

Later on, the race faced multiple cautions that would alter the ending.

For a moment, Kyle Busch looked primed to earn his first Daytona 500 win, but a series of late incidents brought Ricky Stenhouse Jr to the front of the pack.

Stenhouse would eventually be declared the winner following a caution on the final lap.