DAYTONA 500: Polesitter Elliott an early out

Chase Elliott's storybook Daytona 500 debut lasted all of 19 laps and ended with a solo crash off Turn 4 and into the infield grass.

Elliott led the first three laps from the pole before relinquishing the lead to Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. He was eventually shuffled to the middle lane by lap 10 and had just reported over the team radio just how violent the air was upon his No. 24 NAPA Auto Parts No. 24 Chevrolet.

He lost control of the car by himself, from the middle, and spun across the nose of the Carl Edwards Toyota and onto the entrance of pit road. The car continued onto the infield grass, where it buried itself into the dirt, severely damaging the front end of the car.

The 2014 Xfinity Series champion said he wasn't sure what happened, but it wasn't a handling issue.

"I just got in middle there a couple of laps before and got loose off of (Turn) Four and just lost it," Elliott said. "I hate it – it had been such a fun week and you hate to end the race before it even got started. Just disappointed for everybody.

"We will just have to look past it and get on for Atlanta. That is the most important thing now. Can't get caught up in what happened today, it is irrelevant now. We'll try and get it fixed and make some laps."

Elliott won the NASCAR Xfinity Series event on Saturday night and told the media that he was much more comfortable in the draft with those cars, compared to the Sprint Cup counterparts. He started his Can-Am Duel front the pole but was consistently shuffled from the lead pack before finishing sixth.

After his Xfinity victory, he said he expected to be challenged in his Sprint Cup restrictor plate debut.

"The Cup cars, they get spread out and have big runs, you get these big shoves, the cars will get pushed way out," Elliott said. "It's a very different style of racing. "I've had a chance to do (Xfinity drafting) three, four times the past couple years.

"I think having a chance to do this, the rules haven't changed much on the Xfinity side, I think that probably has just been helpful there."

Elliott has taken over the No. 24 car from recently retired four-time champion Jeff Gordon.