At the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Denny Hamlin reached Victory Lane as the Joe Gibbs Racing team ran riot. However, Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott was one of the few drivers to take the fight to them. In fact, he finished second ahead of Hamlin’s teammates, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr.

After the race, Elliott reflected on his second place finish. He said, “We were really close, not quite close enough. Denny did a good job controlling the gap to me. He was having a hard time with the #21 [DiBenedetto] I think he was doing a good job of giving himself enough room to be able to work the lanes. Super close, really proud our team. I feel like we’ve been performing at a really high level.”

Chase Elliott will be focusing on the next race

With this race done and dusted, Denny Hamlin has drawn first blood and sealed his berth. In other words, there are seven slots left with 11 drivers fighting over them in the next two races. Truthfully speaking, nobody was really expecting miracles from Elliott at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, as he has never won there.

On the other end of the spectrum, there is a strong chance that he could potentially win at the Charlotte Roval later on. This is because Elliott is best known for his prowess in the road course arena. In fact, he has taken three wins at the track, including two at the Roval.

Meanwhile, he does have a win at the Talladega Superspeedway, so he is obviously no pushover on that particular race track.

However, Chase Elliott will have to be wary of the remaining 10 drivers right on his tail. Chief among them will be the Joe Gibbs Racing drivers, except for Hamlin. Additionally, his own teammates and the Team Penske drivers will be threats for the remaining seven seats.

READ MORE: “I’m Going to Stand Up for Myself” – Chase Elliott on His Spat With Kevin Harvick