For Chase Elliott, one of the worst moments of his career came in 2023, and no, it had nothing to do with his performance on the racetracks. This unique problem arose after a snowboarding accident, during which Hendrick Motorsports’ most successful driver ended up fracturing the tibia in his left leg. Elliott may have physically recovered from the injury, but his performance on the track has not improved. He hopes to overcome this heavy baggage in the 2025 season with one of his most consistent performances in recent times.

This Sunday, the Hendrick Motorsports #9 will return to Texas Motor Speedway, where he achieved his most recent win last fall. Thanks to his fourth position in the Cup standings, the best ranking since reaching the Championship in 2022, the second-generation driver appears to be in great shape. Perhaps in light of this, Chase Elliott seemed full of hope during an interview. However, considering his lack of stage and race wins, is the driver happy? Well, he is hopeful, at the very least.

Promising signs amid lackluster results for Chase Elliott

Chase Elliott may be lacking a solid win in recent times; however, his hope isn’t unfounded. In the 2025 season, Elliott has shown a promising and consistent performance so far. He recently secured a top-five finish at Talladega and has finished in the top 20 in all 10 of his starts this season. While it may not sound very promising for a driver who once excelled on the track, it is still an improvement over his previous performance.

While acknowledging that the team has high hopes for themselves, considering “we know what we are capable of,” Elliot said, “We’ve had a couple opportunities this year, but certainly not the amount of opportunities that I think we need to have or that we should have, or, that we should give ourselves. The season’s still very early and that’s kinda why I get it, like, I’ve seen enough high spots to kinda give me hope and just the direction that we’ve gone in.”

Delving deeper into Chase Elliott’s paradoxical struggles, you will find that he has an average finish of 10.9, the third best of any full-time driver, but has led just 45 laps, 42 of them coming at Martinsville alone. In many ways, he’s the opposite of Ryan Blaney from Team Penske! Blaney has led 198 laps, the fourth most of any driver, but his average finish sits at 15.1 as he, too, is winless and has suffered engine failures and bad pit stops that have cost him at least two races while he was in the lead, Homestead and Darlington in specific.

Meanwhile, Chase Elliott seems to be finding consistent runs in the middle of the pack and works himself up the grid by the end of the race for a positive result. Just take a look at the race at the Circuit of The Americas. Elliott was spun by Ross Chastain on the very first lap and fought from behind ever since. With 17 laps remaining, Elliott pitted for fresher tires and restarted outside the top-20, but Goodyear was on his side, as he drove through the whole grid and finished 4th by the end of the race!

For Chase Elliott, who is chasing the mantra of success along with a consistent performance, effort is all that matters at the moment. The #9 believes he just has to keep his head down and stick to the grind, adding, “Keep going to work. Keep showing up. Continue to put the right amount of effort and thought throughout the weekend to make sure you’re prepared to show up on any given weekend.” Texas Motor Speedway might just be what he needs. A familiar track with drought-breaking history.

Why Texas Motor Speedway may help Elliott end his winless streak

“The good news was [Texas] went well. The bad news is it was 12 months ago,” said Chase Elliott in the recent interview about his 19th career victory. Actually, it has been over 12 months since the April 14 Texas event, but who’s keeping track? Elliott’s fans are, as that was his last points victory in the Cup Series.

Chase Elliott may have secured his win at The Clash at Bowman Gray, but since the first race of the season does not award any points, that win won’t help his playoff push. However, despite the concerns surrounding his performance, Elliott’s consistent efforts have renewed hope among his fans, and his history with Texas Motor Speedway also contributes to that optimism.

Texas presents a great opportunity for Chase Elliott. He won his first Xfinity Series race as a rookie at this track while heading toward the 2014 championship, which was a special moment with his sponsor, NAPA. Texas has been one of his better tracks; in his first seven races there, he never finished lower than 13th. Although his recent results at this 1.5-mile track have been mixed, the Next-Gen car has helped him become a strong competitor again. He led 44 laps in 2022 but crashed and finished 32nd, then came in 11th in 2023, and won in 2024 after leading 39 laps.

Even if this Texas race doesn’t help him end his winless streak, he is likely to finish in the top 5. What do you think? Let us know in the comments!