Chase Elliott Is Fuming, Larson Is Ashamed, Sunburn Guy Is Back, NASCAR Fan Has 'Side-Piece' Mannequin And Natalie Decker Tees Off

Friendly Fire in NASCAR Turn 1! Head on a swivel, Chase Elliott.

Holy cow.

I gotta say ... I didn't see that one coming. Not from Kyle Larson. Not from a teammate. Not from Hendrick Motorsports' finest!

Fellas, we good?

"I'm not proud of it," Larson said after punting Elliott into oblivion on the final restart Sunday at Watkins Glen. "I think if I was in his shoes ... I would understand the risk that I'm taking choosing left lane. It's what I felt like I had to do to get the win."

More on those two in a minute. We'll also check in with a defeated Martin Truex Jr., a sunburnt Chase Elliott fan, drunk Denny Hamlin (relax, I'll explain) and a wild TikToker who loves NASCAR AND his "side-piece" mannequin.

Yep. You read it right.

Monday Morning Pit-Stop is a GO.

Kyle Larson made a questionable move but it paid off Sunday at Watkins Glen. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Chase Elliott has nothing to say to Kyle Larson ... and it says a lot

All right, Chase. I let Larson tell us three times he wasn't proud of what he did on that final restart.

It's your mic, now!

"Just a huge congratulations to Kyle and everybody on the No. 5 team. Congratulations to everybody at Hendrick Motorsports for getting another win."

OK, sure. But what about the move?

“Congratulations. He did a great job. Seriously, they deserve it."

Um, OK ... what about next week at DAYTONA? Any payback?

"Looking forward to going to Bristol next week."

Chase ... please don't go to Bristol. I know you're the regular season champ and there's not much to race for, but please don't go to Bristol!

Let's debrief after that rollercoaster.

For starters, Chase was clearly furious after the race, and he should've been. He had the best car all weekend and could smell those five playoff points.

But Larson hasn't won in months, saw a chance, nosed that No. 5 Chevy deeeeeeeep into Turn 1 and made his bed.

Road Racin' certainly lends itself to those moments, you just don't expect it from a teammate - especially someone like Larson.

Good luck at Bristol, you two!

Chase Elliott wasn't thrilled after Sunday's race at Watkins Glen. (Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney on NASCAR bubble going to Daytona

In case you didn't catch it earlier, Chase did wrap up the regular season championship at The Glen, meaning he'll start every round of the playoffs with 15 bonus points.

It's essentially like earning a bye through the first two rounds of the postseason, barring absolute disaster.

Not everyone left New York as cheery as Chase, though!

Martin Truex Jr. was horrible all day, never sniffed the front, and goes to Daytona 25 points behind Ryan Blaney for the final playoff spot.

"I'm in the way. I'm struggling," Truex told his team in the middle of the race.

"Keep pushing," crew chief James Small said.

"Keep pushing? I don't have anything to push!" Truex optimistically responded.

Yikes.

Good news for Blaney and Truex, though ... BOTH are out if a new winner takes the checkers at Daytona.

Good thing that NEVER happens at that place.

Denny Hamlin helps drunk fan at Watkins Glen

One person who doesn't have to worry about Daytona shenanigans is Denny Hamlin, who's safely in the playoffs.

Despite a pretty 'meh' weekend, the Joe Gibbs vet was in a giving mood Sunday afternoon.

Imagine getting tanked in the infield around 2 a.m. Saturday, stumbling down the road and all of a sudden Denny Hamlin rolls down the window and tells you to hop in.

That, folks, doesn't happen in any other sport. Go to a NASCAR race weekend and stay in the infield for a few days, trust me.

Welcome back, Kenny Hunt - the NASCAR Sunburnt Guy

Oh, you STILL don't believe me?

Well, what if I told you that you get to hang out with people like this all weekend?

Kenny Hunt, the Sunburn Guy, is a NASCAR legend of sorts and someone I'd enjoy crushing a week-long tailgate with. Frankly, I'm not sure I can keep up, though.

Meet TikToker Shaun Stinson, NASCAR fan with a mannequin side-piece

All right. Now, the real reason we're all here.

Meet TikToker Shaun Stinson - a huge NASCAR fan who pumps out some WILD videos with his mannequin Emily, who he calls his "side-piece."

It appears the two first met back in March, and the relationship has blossomed ever since. Ol' Shaun LOVES NASCAR, too.

So far, I've counted a Kurt Busch shirt, Kyle Busch shirt, Erik Jones shirt, and, of course, a Brad Keselowski cardboard cutout.

Wild stuff.

Anyway, if you wanna get lost in a really, really weird wormhole, check out Shauney on TikTok. You may not recover, but it's gonna be one heck of a journey.

We'll be periodically checking in with him, too. All NASCAR fans are welcome here. It's a safe space.

Natalie Decker hits the links before Daytona

All right, as NASCAR returns to Daytona for the first time since February this weekend, let's decompress from that ride with a little golf outing with Natalie Decker.

The part-time Xfinity Series driver has three starts this season, with the last coming at Atlanta in July. Decker attempted to qualify for the season-opener at Daytona and didn't make it, but she does have a pair of top-10 finishes down here in the ARCA Series. She also started on the pole back in 2018.

No word on whether Decker's racing this weekend or not, but even if she's not, we have plenty of golf courses around here to check out!