After a tumultuous rollercoaster ride through the Cup Series regular season, all eyes are now on the playoffs. NASCAR drivers are rolling up their sleeves to use their potential, although some of them are at a disadvantage. Chase Elliott is one of them – he is the 7th seed, but in order to survive the cutthroat postseason, he needs to win. The Hendrick Motorsports driver’s lone victory in Atlanta this year does not paint a pretty picture, as Elliott needs to start winning again.

Nevertheless, Chase Elliott is ready to go all out if the situation calls for it. Multiple drivers resorted to wild methods during the Coke Zero Sugar 400 race, the last chance for many to punch their ticket into the playoffs. Elliott may adopt a similarly aggressive approach to push through the playoff rounds.

Chase Elliott is ready to change colors

Well, we usually see the 2020 Cup Series champion in white, blue, and yellow colors, hailing his sponsor, NAPA Auto Parts. Previously, Chase Elliott also wore the orange shade of Hooters. But even while representing his sponsors, the HMS driver has engaged in some feisty conflicts in the past. He exchanged wreckfest blows with Kevin Harvick during the 2021 playoffs, each trying to topple the other from the postseason at Bristol and Charlotte. Then, in a 2023 Fontana race, Elliott went nuclear in her verbal outburst, calling Kyle Larson a “stupid mother——“ after the latter bounced him into the wall. This year as well, Elliott tightly contested his teammate, William Byron, in a battle for the first rank.

Now, as the 2025 Cup Series postseason beckons, Chase Elliott is ready to face the music. Not only that, but he is also ready to give potentially rowdy rivals a piece of his mind. In a recent episode of The BobbyCast, Elliott blew off some steam: “Some guys just race like a–holes, some of them just do.” When Bobby Bones asked him if he would “turn your heel one day and same sponsor, but like, show up in all black, and be like, screw everybody,” Elliott responded affirmatively. He said, “I think that would catch a lot of people off guard. Maybe I will. Somebody might be getting the bird this weekend.”

Despite this firm attitude, things will still be challenging for Chase Elliott. His Atlanta victory this year was only his second win since 2022 (Elliott missed the playoffs in 2023 and clinched one Texas win in 2024). But then again, Elliott is the highest-seeded driver among eight who made it into the playoffs with a single victory this season. This overarching emphasis on focusing on fetching a second career championship got to Elliott, who let off some steam about a different sport.

College football players usually enlist in NASCAR as pit crew members or pursue careers in the NFL.  Either way, the pressure is tense. Chase Elliott confessed that he does not really sanction pressuring NFL players to win from the get-go. He told Bobby Bones, “I hate the coaching culture, definitely in football. I think it’s totally unfair to these guys that they come in and they’re just expected to win a national championship in, like, three years. If it was easy, everybody would do it.”

Meanwhile, however, there are many eyes on Chase Elliott for the NASCAR title – including two seasoned insiders.

Looking at the silver lining

Despite just one victory in 2024, Chase Elliott drove deep into the playoffs. He earned top-10 finishes in seven of the 10 playoff races, including a playoff-best showing of runner-up at Bristol and Martinsville. Elliott also led for 218 laps in the postseason stretch before marginally missing out on the Championship 4 round. This deep run was due to one thing – consistency – and Elliott has it in 2025 as well. A lap 198 crash in Watkins Glen ended his flawless top 20 streak, and a tangle with Kyle Busch in Richmond ended his no-DNF streak. This picture-perfect consistency is what convinced NASCAR insiders of Elliott’s strong championship chances.

According to a recent article on The Athletic, Chase Elliott’s consistency makes a strong argument for his title hopes. Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi wrote, “Even in a playoff format that emphasizes winning, being able to finish up front on a near weekly basis still matters. And during the regular season, no one had better consistency than Elliott, whose 12.0 average finish led the series. If he can carry over this consistency to the playoffs, it should be enough to carry him to another Championship 4 berth — which would be his fourth in six years.”

With Chase Elliott’s aggressive resolve and insiders’ optimism, there is a lot of hope for the HMS driver. But we can only wait and see what unfolds in the weeks ahead.