“I think that if you’re worried about barely getting into the playoffs, I think you have some work to do.” Chase Elliott said these words ahead of the Nashville race. The Hendrick Motorsports driver underwent several near misses and pit stop miscues in the previous races, but was optimistic. However, even the Cracker Barrel 400 went by without a whimper, as the No. 9 Chevy faded to an average 15th-place finish.

All the evidence points to a slow decline in performance for the 2020 Cup Series Champion. This concerning situation has set off worrisome ripples in the NASCAR community. Yet the slim slivers of hope do give some encouragement in the chaos.

A curtain of concern falls on Chase Elliott

On February 2nd, 2025, Chase Elliott started off the Cup Series season with a bang. He led 171 of 200 laps en route to victory at the Cook Out Clash race at Bowman Gray Stadium. However, rarely has a Clash winner gone on to put up a championship-worthy season. The only driver to have won the Clash race, the Daytona 500, and the points title was Jeff Gordon in 1997. Along with his chances looking weak from the start, Elliott has also not been able to catch up with his teammates. While Kyle Larson and William Byron are contending for wins every weekend, Elliott sits with a deepening winless streak. He only has one victory in the last 84 Cup Series events, which is the worst stretch of his career following his first win at Watkins Glen International in 2018.

This situation has led to concerning speculation among NASCAR experts. In a recent interview with Performance Racing Network, veteran journalist Claire B. Lang put forward her concerns. She said, “Up till now, he’s kind of been just so-so. But at some point, he’s going to have to pull off the dub…I’m not sure where it could be, maybe a short track. He has two top-fives, and it’s hard to believe that we’re 14 races in.” A tiny correction, Chase Elliott has three top-fives in Circuit of the Americas, Martinsville, and Darlington. Nevertheless, Lang is justified in assuming that a former champion like Elliott is way off his pace for the 2025 playoffs.

Nevertheless, Claire B. Lang also holds hope for him. Chase Elliott is strong in Martinsville, having narrowly missed the 2024 Championship 4 race after leading for 129 laps at the short track. Then he has two victories, 6 top-fives, and 9 top tens in Talladega. Hence, Lang is expecting the HMS driver to thunder back into form soon. She continued: “Chase Elliott, he’s a perennial contender, so he’s in Hendrick equipment. I just think that there will be a track where he finds himself and breaks through…But you have the shortest track, Martinsville, the biggest track, Talladega. So somewhere in between, doesn’t he have to find the Victory Lane?” Well, speaking of HMS, Jeff Gordon had expressed his thoughts on Chase Elliott and the No. 9 team a few days ago.

“So, if you’re not achieving what you want to achieve, then you know you’ve got to go to work, and you know that you’re not meeting expectations. (Gustafson and Elliott) have high expectations. It’s not unusual for them to get down a little bit on, ‘Hey, this isn’t good enough,’ but I’ve seen them react really well and positively to that too,” he said. The fact that the Vice Chairman of the team knows the potential of the team and sees them in a positive light does not change anything.

Chase Elliott clearly has work to do in his team, as he himself admitted. However, he also placed the onus on NASCAR to improve the racing package.

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Elliott adds his voice to the common demand

Well, Chase Elliott’s pace has fallen off significantly ever since the Next-Gen car debuted. The car’s passing problems made an impact on the HMS star’s 2022 playoff performance. After that, a snowboarding accident in early 2023 left Elliott at a greater disadvantage. He missed the playoffs for the first time in his career, leaving a gaping hole of disappointment in his mind. Although he redeemed that with the 2024 Texas victory, another Victory Lane appearance has eluded him for 41 races until now. Several problems can be cited for this, like restart issues, lack of raw speed, and crew inconsistencies. However, Elliott pointed to another factor.

The Next-Gen car’s 670 horsepower limit is a major cause of concern for drivers, including Chase Elliott. As NASCAR’s executives dropped hints about raising it, Elliott is all on board. He called for all three OEMs to put aside their differences and push for greater horsepower. He said, “Throughout my career, it’s like Chevrolet might want one thing, Toyota might want something else, and Ford might want something different…So you’re going to have to get all of them to agree, which in my view is going to be a difficult thing to do. But hopefully they can, and everybody’s willing to give it a shot somewhere just to see if it makes a difference. It might not do anything, but it might really help.”

As the 2025 season progresses, concerns shroud the No. 9 HMS camp. Chase Elliott is working hard, nonetheless, and might get a boost with higher horsepower.