The NASCAR 2023 Quaker State 400 is scheduled for this weekend at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. On Sunday, July 9, at 7 p.m. ET, the 19th race of the season will begin, and it will be a 400-mile thriller.

After last weekend’s historic street race, the series returns to its more typical format on Sunday. That means all attention will be on the Quaker State 400, Atlanta’s staple race, which came back to its home track after a trip to Kentucky from 2011 through 2020.

In fact, everyone has already begun making predictions, including who could make the playoffs and why. Meanwhile, in an interview with NBC, retired stock car racing driver Jeff Burton shared his thoughts on Chase Elliott’s performance in Atlanta and what people could expect.

Can Chase Elliott secure a playoff berth in Atlanta

Drivers like Elliott stand out when thinking back on drivers who have performed well in Atlanta. However, this time, the Hendrick Motorsports driver has in under pressure, with 0 wins to his name thus far in 2023. With each race that goes by, his prospects of reaching the playoffs diminish.

While Elliott did win last year in Atlanta, it has been much tougher for him since then. According to Jeff Burton, Chase needs a rhythm since he missed so many races after he was banned, made a comeback, and then had a bad weekend. Burton also addressed the topic of whether he believes Chase will qualify for postseason play.

In Jeff Burton’s own words: “Chase needs a rhythm; he missed so many races and then he got back, then he got suspended, then he had an off weekend. The team now has two races under their belt back to back, and now they can start building some rhythm. And I do think that matters.

“Do I think Chase will make the playoffs? I don’t know. I know that Alan Gunderson and Chase Elliott are more than capable of making the playoffs, and they are more than capable of contending for championships, but so was Martin Truex, and he didn’t make it last year.

“So it would be hard for me to imagine somebody can miss seven races and point themselves in. That’s where I’m having trouble. However, Alan Bowman missed the races he missed, and he was still in when he yelled. So, I don’t know, but this is a good weekend for them to quit talking about pulling someone to race.”

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Chase Elliot isn’t resting on his past laurels as he makes a push for the playoffs

Due to injuries sustained in a snowboarding accident earlier this year, Elliott has had to sit out of numerous events this season. Because of this, he is now far behind his rivals. However, he denied feeling out of the loop when asked about it during the interview.

During an interview, Elliott told the media, “I don’t honestly feel any different going into it. I think, yes, I missed the event, but I did get to run Talladega, and shortly thereafter I got back, which is another speedway event, not the same but similar in a lot of ways.”

Moreover, Elliott is not counting on his last year’s win. He added, “We had a good summer stretch, but a lot has changed since then. I think a lot changed really last fall when we started running not as good.

“I think, personally, the setups and just the direction that the garage went in was a pretty large departure of what we had success with through the early stages of the season and through the summer months. Changes with the tires and all kinds of little things that I think added up.”

NBC’s NASCAR Twitter account shared a video with a voiceover from Elliott. The video featured current and past events in Dawsonville as well as footage of his younger self dazzling the racing scene.

Elliott, as the film went, narrated, “I’ve traveled to many places across this country. But Georgia will always be my home. That is a decision by choice and by blood… I was raised on the notion of real racing, real fast. I’m part of a new generation in NASCAR. But I have always run a few laps of history on my shoulder as the son of a Hall of Fame champion from Georgia.” Given that this was Elliott’s home state campaign, his dominance at the top was not surprising.

It’s still up in the air to guess what will really go down, given the bumpy road the Hendrick Motorsports driver is currently on. If he manages to hit the jackpot this weekend, it will be smooth sailing for him on the path to the playoffs.

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