The 2023 season feels like an unending bad dream for Chase Elliott. Riddled with misfortune and bad luck, the Hendrick Motorsports speedster is still eyeing his first win of the season to cement his chances of a playoff spot. The proud HMS garage hit its first low when Elliott was sidelined after an unfortunate snowboarding accident, taking him out of contention for six races.

Now, with the regular season approaching its end with just eight more races to the playoffs, the 2020 Cup champ has put on a serious face, being realistic and admitting his faults. Though the #9 Camaro driver has bounced back decently from his injury, a win has eluded him, and he is in a precarious spot.

“I think a lot of that falls on me”: Chase Elliott gets real about his playoff chances

As mentioned above,   2023 hasn’t been what NASCAR’s golden boy might have anticipated it to be. An unfortunate accident and a hefty penalty have caused Elliott to be on his backfoot despite going into this week’s race at Atlanta as a heavy favorite. Heading into the race week, Elliott is a strong favorite to win the race as the Georgia native is looking to emulate the past years’ success on his home turf.

Despite finishing his last 3 races in the top 5s, Elliott is still 55 points short of the final playoff spot. This prompted the talented driver to admit his shortcomings and inadequacy to finish the race at the top. Ahead of the Quaker State 400 in Atlanta, speaking to NBC, Elliott revealed his honest thoughts about his playoff chances, taking the blame on himself and not on the Hendrick equipment.

“I feel like the good news is we’ve been trending in a good direction, and I feel like the areas I’ve struggled in I’ve made a little progress over the last month or so,” said Elliott reflecting on his mindset going into the race. Furthermore, he stated, “I think our team is in a really good place, we just need a little bit of pace. I’ve been saying that over the last couple of weeks.”

Elliott further took the blame to himself saying, “I think all those things are on me, to make sure that I’m giving the information that needs to be given to help lead our team in a better direction in those crucial moments.”

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Moreover while revealing his thoughts, the community also got a glimpse of a disheartened HMS driver getting realistic about his playoff chance. He added, “I think a lot of that falls on me to extract that pace, to know in the early stages of the event or in our short practice session.” 

It ain’t over till it’s over! Elliott still remains a massive favorite as we head to Atlanta

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As the NASCAR nation is heading to a revamped and reconfigured Atlanta track with steeper banking, going from 24-degree banked roads to 28 degrees, NASCAR Cup Series is riding on the hype of its first-ever Street race last week. The NASCAR nation will be going full throttle into the motor speedway.

With the action headed to Georgia, Elliott indeed has a home-ground advantage as he is going into the race with +1100 odds, ahead of Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, and Brad Keselowski. While a win may have been eluding the Hendrick Motorsports camp, Elliott certainly has been busy dishing out decent performances, even finishing his first-ever NASCAR street course third, just in front of his HMS teammate, Kyle Larson.

With the Elliotts having a deep-rooted sentiment with the home track, the driver even rolled out a self-narrated short video emphasizing the significance of the almost 62-year-old track. Still being a massive betting favorite, will the golden boy redeem himself in his home ground and continue his father’s legacy?

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