A fractured tibia, a suspension, and rain-shortened races. These are some of the woes that have hurt Hendrick Motorsports ace Chase Elliott this season. Well, to add fuel to the fire comes another hurdle in Elliott’s way.

The qualifying at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway was a statement of intent by Toyota. The manufacturing company dominated the top ranks of qualifying alongside Ford, who also had three drivers in the top five. The biggest surprise from the weekend was a lackluster outing by Hendrick Motorsports’ Chevrolets. Being in a #9 Camaro himself, Elliott was one of the drivers to suffer. But a terrible display at qualifying is the least of concerns as per him.

Chase Elliott on HMS’ struggles in qualifying amid playoff desperation

The qualifying session at New Hampshire saw a solid display by the Toyotas. Joe Gibbs Racing duo of Christopher Bell and Martin Truex Jr got the top two spots. William Byron was the highest-placed Hendrick Motorsports driver at seventh. At a tough phase of the season, performances of this sort will only hurt Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman’s chances to grab a win and a playoff berth.

“How much faith do you have that in that short of time you guys can pull it back out somewhat I mean maybe you’re not going to be top of the charts or maybe you will?” asked the journalist in a post-race conference. Elliott will start 18th on Monday. This will mean another day of struggle at work in search of a win for the 2020 champion.

“That doesn’t happen very often. You know, very rarely in my career have I ever, you know, really struggled through practice and qualifying and just miraculously hit it. I mean, it’s happened, but it’s pretty few and far between.”

“So yeah you know we’ll just make the most of it you know, you never know what tomorrow is going to bring.”

Talking about what tomorrow brings, Elliott throws a sarcastic dig with some more predictions about a downpour at the venue.

“Looks like there’s a pretty good chance of it bringing some rain. Outside of that, I don’t know what it’s going to bring on track on Monday or tomorrow night or whenever we race so… hopefully better than today,” claims Elliott.

Starting from far back in the grid, and with only a handful of races remaining until the playoffs, this race will be a tough nut to crack for Chase Elliott.

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Elliott looking to make the best of the opportunities available

Chase has also decided to make an Xfinity Series appearance this season. Last week, he announced that he will be running the #17 HMS Chevrolet at the Pocono Mountains 225. A winner of the series in 2014, Elliott will make his first appearance in the second tier since Indianapolis in 2021.

Elliott has addressed his struggles this season and says that on a thorough introspection, he notices that what he needs right now is good momentum. Nobody expected a playoff bubble struggle for him with his previous. Fans will want to see him forcing his way into playoffs at a later stage of the season.

He then takes up on his feelings around his precautious situation for qualification. But the most popular driver of the last five years understands that several factors can come into play in a race, and making the best out of those moments will be key to their pursuit of a playoff spot.

“You know we can just make the most of whatever we have. Whatever’s presented to us and that’s all we can do.”

Intense times ahead for Rick Hendrick and the team.

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