RICHMOND, Va. – Knowing that while his plane was taking off in Las Vegas and last Sunday’s South Point 400 was ongoing, Chase Elliott after being eliminated following a Lap 212 caution, the Hendrick Motorsports driver didn’t want to wait five days to get to Richmond Raceway.
He was ready then.
Of course, his No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was strong in the opening round of the post-season Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Holding his own, until Jamie McMurray lost a tire and spun directly into the path of Elliott, his 36th place finish saw an opportunity to take advantage of a chaotic race end prematurely.
Elliott’s fourth DNF (did not finish) of the season also left him in a hole. With just two races remaining before the first cutoff to the Round of 12, Elliott enters Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 14th in the championship standings, a mere nine points behind teammate Alex Bowman secured in the final transfer position.
The Dawsonville, Ga. native isn’t panicking yet though.
“Not too bad,” said Elliott when asked if he was worried about his Playoff position. “Last week obviously sucked. Just having probably one of the best 1.5-mile cars that we’ve had all year, we had one of the worst results of the season. So, it’s just the way it goes. And with the way the format is now, stuff happens.
“In that situation, I don’t know what you’d do any differently. We had a solid day going. We were playing catch-up a little bit from a couple of mistakes. Ultimately you limit those mistakes and try not to be behind those guys and you further forward and hope you miss the melee.”
With the remaining two rounds coming on a short track and the highly-anticipated Roval at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, Elliott isn’t sure what to expect – but knows he needs to avoid the potential chaos to have an opportunity to contend for his first Cup Series championship.
“So, I think it’s going to be wild throughout the next couple of weeks. Obviously, everybody talks about how wild next week is going to be, but nobody really knows. It could be the smoothest race ever. Who knows until we get there.”
As a whole, Elliott thought Las Vegas was the strongest his Hendrick Motorsports team had been this season. Elliott and teammates Jimmie Johnson and Alex Bowman all showcased strength throughout the race, before Johnson was involved in a late-race entanglement and finished 22nd.
Bowman also endured hardship in the closing laps and finished 19th. Still, Elliott seemed convinced the performance was the preview of things to come.
“I thought last week, as a whole, we were probably about as good as we’ve been all year, which was encouraging,” added Elliott. “That’s good. That’s only going to help all of us. I know that Vegas and Richmond don’t look anything alike, but typically the same guys win every week. Ultimately, they have the fastest cars or are the best drivers.
“So, in my mind, I’m thinking I know they’re not very similar, but the same people run good everywhere. So, I think if you’ve made a gain somewhere, it’s probably going to show up here, too.”
Richmond would be a good recovery for Elliott who finished second in the spring. In his five other starts, however, Elliott hasn’t been impressive.
He hopes to build on the spring performance and build the consistency he’ll need to take him through the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway in November.
Elliott knows, however – putting yourself in a position to get to the final four won’t be easy. With the top-16 contenders stacked, the 22-year-old knows every point can’t be taken for granted.
“Until you get the race started and get going, I don’t know,” offered Elliott on what to expect.
“The big thing I’ve noticed this year about the Playoffs is that it didn’t seem like we had as many random winners throughout the season. It seemed like the people who won, I thought were guys who have run pretty well throughout the year for the most part.
“So, your field of 16, to me, is probably as strong as it’s ever been since I’ve been doing this. Typically, your first round is not too bad because those guys that might have not had a very good day going and had a weather delay get them a victory, or whatever, and get them in; they were the first ones out, typically.
“I feel like this year it’s about as strong as it’s been since I’ve been involved. So, I think it’s going to be tough all the way down through this round, the round of 12, and the round of 8 and so on. I think this round is going to be tough.”
Still, Elliott doesn’t plan to change his routine. He is banking on his rhythm to propel him forward and avoid any potential trouble.
“I expect tomorrow night to be hard fought. I can’t say that I’m going to do things a whole lot different because you can get yourself in trouble trying to overreach a lot easier than you can just trying to do what you normally do.
“We normally try to win, so that’s not going to change tomorrow night.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
