TALLADEGA, Ala. – With an average finish of 4.25 in the opening rounds of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott is hoping to keep his name in the limelight with another strong performance in Sunday’s Alabama 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
The sophomore Cup driver has found himself among the most consistent drivers in the last half a dozen races with a worst finish of 11th at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last month.
Still, the 21-year-old phenom is on the cusp of earning his first career Cup victory, especially after finishing second in the past two races at Dover (Del.) International Speedway and Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway respectively.
Currently fourth in the playoffs and considered the top seed for Hendrick, Elliott, son of NASCAR icon Bill Elliott has been tapped a pre-race favorite for the final restrictor plate race of the season.
“I think there is something the driver can do to be a factor at Talladega,” said Elliott, who also scored a runner-up finish at Chicagoland Speedway four races ago. “There are guys that have been consistently winning at those races over the past number of years. Anytime you see something consistently happen there is obviously not just luck involved in it.
“The guys who have embraced it and have been willing to want to figure it out seem to excel and we would like to be amongst that group.”
And even though Elliott’s prior results at the 2.66-mile superspeedway don’t necessarily show his performance highlights, the Dawsonville, Ga. native has one top-five finish and a 12th place result in three prior races. The 2014 XFINITY Series champion also earned a pole last May and despite a 30th place finish earlier this season at Talladega, the Georgian maintains a series-best driver rating at 91.4 topping restrictor plate gurus Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski.
“Our cars have been better, our execution at races have been better and our pit stops have been better,” added Elliott. “It takes everything to have a full, complete day. So, I don’t think it’s one thing.
“Luckily, a lot of things have been working good over the last few weeks. Hopefully, we can carry it forward. We’re going to have to in order to have a shot.”
While the burning question remains on when Elliott will finally seal the deal and score that elusive first win, lately it doesn’t seem like a matter of if – but when.
And Talladega would be an ideal place to do it, especially carrying the Elliott-family torch.
“It’s a unique style of racing. It’s something that we don’t do a ton,” sounded Elliott. “The races are spaced out kind of equally I feel like. So just when you feel like you haven’t done it in a long time, it seems like the next one rolls around. But you’re right – you have just go do it to learn.
“There are some things you can watch and pick up on but at the end of the day, you just have to go do it and go forward. I haven’t been doing it real long myself so I can’t say that I have figured every little trick out. I’ve certainly learned a lot over my first handful.”
Certainly, with what he has learned, the question remains, will Sunday be the day?
History has loudly spoken that Talladega has been the site for many drivers’ first series win, 11 times overall in fact.
From Richard Brickhouse in 1969 and to earlier this season with Roush Fenway Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in May, Elliott hopes to add his name to the docket.
But, first Elliott must survive what many anticipate to be a wild Alabama 500 and even with a 16-point cushion from the eighth-place cut-off, the rising star knows the unpredictable nature of plate racing could turn his positive position into a negative.
“I can never guess what the rest of these guys’ moods are going to be when we show up at these places. Sometimes we get here, everybody is really calm,” added Elliott.
“Then sometimes we get here and everybody wants to push each other and try to push through the corners and everything else. I can’t read their minds. I think what happens is when one guy starts to get aggressive, the guy around him has to get aggressive to start dealing with that guy. And then when that happens, the guy in front has to deal with it, and so on. I think that is what happens.
“If it shows up and that is the kind of race it is going to be, then we will see. I definitely think there is going to be some emphasis on running well in the stages. But I just hope that everybody will want to get to the end as much as they want to have stage finishes, too. So, I really don’t know, but I could see it being pretty wild to try and get those points.”
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
