As the dust settles in on the track at Daytona, the hearts of millions of NASCAR enthusiasts are yet to accept that they won’t be seeing Chase Elliott contend for the championship. The 2023 Cup Series has been underwhelming for the sport’s most popular driver as he reels from a series of misfortunes. To add to the woes, the driver finished fourth on Saturday in the mercy stroke.

However, the light still blinks at the end of the tunnel for Hendrick Motorsports poster boy. The driver snatched up the opportunity to compete for the owner’s championship in the playoffs. However, the question is whether the driver will be able to turn his fortunes around or if it will be another tragic affair for the team. Well, the NASCAR insiders are ready to hope against hope.

NASCAR Insider upholds his faith in Chase Elliott

The pressure had intensified and weighed down on the shoulders of Chase Elliott before the green flag was waved on Saturday. The race at Daytona was his final shot at redemption and entering the playoffs. The driver had been aggressive from the first lap, slowly building his momentum and gauging his way to the front of the field. As the evening set on the iconic track, the No. 9 Chevrolet was leading the laps.

However, the stars were not aligned with him. After receiving a significant amount of tow from his teammates, Elliott failed to match the steps of RFK Racing drivers. He eventually finished fourth and 20th in the points standings. Nevertheless, the driver still breeds the possibility of axing his winless streak in the season, as he is set to compete for the owner’s championship in the playoffs.

Furthermore, NASCAR insiders harbor the notion that the playoffs would deliver a piece of positive news for Chase Elliott. This was evident in the latest episode of Rubbin is Racing. After stating his views on the playoff bubble, host Large evidently asserted that Elliott would be able to change the fortunes of his No. 9 team.

Large expressed, “Chase is out, so that was the big storyline coming in, who’s in who’s out. So Chase finishes P4, he’s out of the playoffs and he just had a terrible season. We can look back on this, I don’t know if any of the greats because I am not that much of a historian, made it to the playoffs every year that they had raced.”

“But Chase legitimately had a terrible season, like 6 races he was injured, 1 he was suspended, he wrecked in Michigan, he ran out of gas in Watkins Glen. He hasn’t had a lot to build on and yet I still think that he’s the guy and most people agree with me that could steal one in the playoffs where he does come away from 2023 with a win somewhere in the playoffs,” the host reinforced.

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HMS No. 9 spills the beans on his intentions to compete for the owner’s championship

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With the smoke of hopes still burning, HMS driver Chase Elliott has yet to let go of the last straw. He considers the owner’s championship as a learning opportunity for him in order to accumulate more experience and looks forward to the upcoming season.

This was apparent in his interview with Frontstretch post-race. Chase shared, “It certainly isn’t ideal for me, but I look at these next 10 weeks as an opportunity to get better and try to be prepared well for next year. I hate it, I hate the way that this worked out. I can’t change it now. We’ve been trying to fight through it and we came up short. That’s life sometimes.”

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“Look it sucks, no question. Glad the car got in, it’s a big deal. Testament to Alan [Gustafson] and our team for continuing to fight while I was gone. There’s a lot of opportunity on that side of things, and it’s a really big deal. Would like to go and make some noise on that front,” Elliott affirmed.

With the playoffs beginning at Darlington on Sunday, it is to be seen how Chase Elliott fares in his final shot to reclaim his old glory. It will be interesting to see if Elliott is able to enter the victory lane before the season ends.