Chase Elliott Publicly Admits Lacking NASCAR Ability Amidst Surprising Richmond Falloff

Published 04/04/2024, 4:03 AM EDT

After a series of disappointments, HMS’ #9 driver Chase Elliott finally drove his car to the Top 5. Elliot’s P5 at the Cup Series clash in Richmond is his best finish this season and team owner Rick Hendrick definitely heaved a sigh of relief on having the reigning ‘Most Popular Driver’ up there after so long. However, the journey is far from over as Chase Elliott looks to one-up his recent performance. And just like any top driver would, the HMS racer, too, started by dissecting his own run and finding out what he lacks!

Chase Elliott is proud of his Richmond performance

Time and again, several drivers in the circuit have iterated how hard it is to pass fellow drivers during a race owing to the emergence of Next-Gens. And even Chase Elliott seemed to be talking along the same lines during a post-race interview at Richmond. Stating how he fell behind during the “mid portion of the race”, the racer revealed his difficulty in passing competitors.

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“Overall a solid weekend all together. Just really proud of the fight you know. We kind of fell behind there in the mid portion of the race. And those last two or three runs had a little momentum, for I was able to pass some guys under green. That’s a hard thing to do nowadays, at least to me. So passed a few guys there and got ourselves, you know, back to part of the top 10. And when the caution came out, gave ourselves the opportunity to come down the pit road and have a good pit stop, and get in the mix.”

Elliott also shared his optimism for the next race at Martinsville Superspeedway, and talked about how he’s now close to clinching that elusive win. “So we are a row or two back from having a shot at it. But, nonetheless, nice to get a solid top 5, and something to build on here as we get to go to Martinsville and beyond.”

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However, the driver’s path to the Top-5 was not so easy.

Hendrick Motorsports’ #9’s battle to the Top 5

Chase Elliott started along with Kyle Larson on the front row, right alongside Larson. Unfortunately, he fell short of 0.002 seconds to acquire the pole position, which was ultimately claimed by Larson, who ran at an impressive lap speed of 120.332 mph. But that didn’t deter Elliott, instead sparked a fire within him. He eventually surpassed his teammate Kyle Larson for the lead on the opening lap of the main event. During stage two, after completing 43 laps, he resumed racing in the ninth position but gradually fell back to 13th place.

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During the final stage, Elliott strategically stopped at pit roads during green-flag stop cycles. This allowed him to gain positions after each pit stop. A crucial pass on Brad Keselowski with 14 laps remaining pushed Elliott up to seventh place. In the overtime finish, Elliott restarted sixth after a strong pit stop. His remarkable fifth-place finish at the recent NASCAR Cup Series race stands out as his best performance of the season. Notably, this achievement also marks his eighth top-10 result in the last 10 short-track races. Furthermore, it adds to his impressive record of six top-five finishes at Richmond Raceway across 16 starts

It would be interesting to see if Elliott can hold on to this form at the next race in Martinsville and for the rest of the season.

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Written by:

Mamata Mukherjee is a NASCAR Writer at EssentiallySports. Combining her love for writing and motorsports she has created some interesting and in-depth stories on drivers like Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Joining ES with 3 years of experience in the field of writing, Mamata feels right at home in her role as a NASCAR Journalist.

Edited by:

Ariva Debnath