“There is still a lot of racing left in the season…We can build from it, and we still have a chance.” Chase Elliott’s words just a day before the Great American Getaway 400 were loaded with passion. With good reason as well, as the Hendrick Motorsports driver has been winless since the 2024 Texas Cup Series race, and has not had the brightest start to the 2025 season.

Multiple mishaps along with the lowest laps led for Hendrick Motorsports have produced concerns for the 2020 Cup Series champion. However, Elliott’s resilience is undeterred. We saw evidence of that during the festivities at Pocono Raceway.

Chase Elliott carves out his own optimistic path

Well, the signs have been in place. Many unforeseen troubles tumbled down Chase Elliott’s path. For instance, on lap 198 of the AdventHealth 400 race at Kansas Speedway, a slow pit stop stunted his chances for a win. Yet despite such mishaps, there has been an unmistakable steadiness in pace. That was visible at Pocono Raceway recently.

Chase Elliott started 18th, but no amount of brake issues or fuel mileage problems that afflicted his rivals could get to him. He moved up to the 8th position by Stage 1 and was in 5th after Riley Herbst’s crash. At the end of Stage 2, he was a formidable contender for the win, riding high in 3rd place. Elliott engaged in a long battle with Denny Hamlin, Chase Briscoe, and Chris Buescher till the very end, each one weighing their chances with fuel. By lap 157, though, Buescher passed Elliott for 4th, and the HMS driver knew that his streak had just extended.

In a post-race interview, Elliott reflected on the race: “When I looked at today, I felt like we were…we were just right there. Just one little adjustment away from being right with Ryan and Denny, I felt like.” However, he dropped a bold statement: “I feel like it’s all well within reach.“ Elliott continued, “We just got to piece it all together. You know, at the same time…it’s hard to be mad about top-fives. It’s not what we’re after, but certainly looking for more.”

This glimmer of optimism is certainly well-founded. Chase Elliott is like a sleeping giant of the 2025 season, being the only Cup Series driver to consistently score top 20 finishes through 17 races. With his ninth top-10 finish of the season in Pocono, Elliott now has the best average finish in the series at 10.8. The No. 9 Chevrolet driver is also 12th on the playoff grid, with a 120-point cushion over the elimination line.

What is more? Elliott has three road courses and his home track, EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway), left before the playoffs. So he might awaken the giant at any time. The motivation inside Elliott was fueled by not only Sunday’s events but also the event on Saturday.

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The former champion may be grinding his teeth

Well, multiple mishaps are something that nobody appreciates. Look at Kyle Busch – he is riding a two-year-long winless streak whose end nobody can see yet. Similarly, Chase Elliott at least did not expect his series of mishaps to stumble into Xfinity. With his 40+ winless streak in the Cup Series, he got a little confidence boost after scoring a pole position for Saturday’s Xfinity race in Pocono. It marked his first NXS pole since his 2014 campaign. The final 100-lapper race also turned many heads at the HMS star’s pace. Elliott was quite fast, leading 38 laps and maintaining a spot near the front for the entire race. However, things turned haywire with just 13 laps to go.

Justin Allgaier found himself in a bad aero spot right against Elliott, touching doors and sliding sideways. While Allgaier could not recover well from the mishap, Elliott could still piece together a remarkable 4th-place finish. The marginal loss saw Elliott grinding his teeth: “Really bummed. We had such a fast Chevy and it was a lot of fun, just kind of leading the charge there and dicing it up through the field, lead some laps and pass (cars). And get some good reps, restarting races and being on the front row — all those things are really good to do.”

Clearly, Chase Elliott may be in the mood for a solid change in fate. With the frequency of good finishes, maybe victory is right around the corner.