BROOKLYN, Mich.—For the first time in his Cup career, Chase Elliott is on the outside the Playoffs looking in.
Over the last eight seasons, Elliott has either won or been high enough in the point standings that qualifying for the postseason by Race 22 wasn’t an issue for NASCAR’s Most Popular driver.
Missing six races due to a skiing accident proved costly. Missing the possible points Elliott could have accrued by finishing the Coca-Cola 600 or running World Wide Technology Raceway after being suspended for hooking Denny Hamlin at Charlotte Motor Speedway was an expensive lesson to learn.
Still, in just 15 starts, Elliott is 20th in the standings—ahead of one-third of his fellow Cup competitors who have started all 22 races. With four events remaining in the regular season, however, Elliott trails 16th-place Michael McDowell by 40 points.
“My stance has been the same since I got back,” Elliott said. “I think we need to win. So, and like I have said a thousand times since I have been back, I think gaining a lot of points and contending for wins is very much one-in-the-same. It’s not a coincidence that the guys that are high up in points have race wins, but they are also leading the regular season thing, or whatever it’s called, too.
“Those things go hand in hand. If you are gaining a lot of points, you are probably going to have a shot to win. And if you are not, then you are probably not going to have a shot to win. So, I think those are one-in-the-same.”
Elliott qualified 10th for Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400. In 12 starts at Michigan International Speedway, the 27-year-old racer is still searching for his first Cup victory at the two-mile track. Elliott finished second in his first three starts and has only finished worse than 11th once. His average finish of eighth ranks first among Cup competitors.
From his first start at MIS in an Xfinity Series car in 2014—three years after the track was repaved—Elliott has enjoyed competing at the track.
“Whatever asphalt they used, I wish they used it on the roads and the highways around the United States because it just doesn’t seem to age,” Elliott said. “It doesn’t seem to give away a lot of grip. It is changing color a little bit, but it certainly doesn’t seem like it has become any more abrasive, or the grip level has gone down any.
“For that reason, the middle of the track is the dominant place on the road. The bottom is too flat to run at pace for a lengthy period of time. And the middle, because of the way the track is shaped, is the fastest way through and it has enough banking to make it work. I think the hope is, and I think it will age eventually, is to keep working it up and have a wider racing groove with the right amount of banking to run.
“I think that is what they are trying to achieve with the grippy stuff, and trying to promote us moving up. Yeah, it’s just that the place has a lot of grip. Still very fast and hasn’t really seemed to change. We will see if it’s any different this weekend, but I kind of doubt it.”
If Elliott doesn’t win on Sunday, his next three opportunities to advance will be at the Indy Road Course, Watkins Glen International, and Daytona International Speedway. Of those three tracks, Elliott’s best results have come at the Glen. In six races, Elliott has won two races, two poles, and posted four top fives. His average finish is 5.7.
Regardless of his chances, Elliott hasn’t singled the Glen out.
“Yeah, I don’t circle races,” Elliott said. “That is not how I operate. I just take it week to week and try to get better. Like I have told you guys a thousand times, and I will make it a thousand and one, I just want to be a guy that can go and contend every week and be in the running wherever we go. Whether it is a half-mile, road course, or two-mile speedway, I don’t want to care. I don’t want to care where we are going. That is where I want to get.
“I will keep working really hard until we can achieve that.”
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
