Chase Elliott finished Sunday’s Cup Series race at the Pocono Raceway in fifth place. Following his third-place finish in Mexico City, this result marked his first consecutive top-five finishes in the 2025 season. This might seem like a reason for optimism, but former driver Kyle Petty believes that the No. 9 driver still needs to step up his game massively.
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At Joe Gibbs Racing, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, and Chase Briscoe have regularly reached Victory Lane and consistently perform at a high level. At Hendrick Motorsports, Kyle Larson and William Byron have also won, racing at the highest level.
Petty’s issue is that Elliott hasn’t followed their lead by delivering better results, as the Joe Gibbs Racing teammates have. Moreover, he believes that Elliott is only a shell of the driver he used to be. Petty said, “If we say internal competition, Larson has won three. Byron has won one, dominated Darlington, and was strong at Nashville. Is Chase stepping up?”
“Since 2023, Chase Elliott has won only one race. One race, people. I know you’ve got all the t-shirts, I know you’ve got all the hats, I know he’s Mr. Most Popular. But how can our most popular driver not win races and not even be the best driver in the team he drives for?”
Petty acknowledged the idea that more road course races are coming up and that these tracks are where Elliott has been at his best historically. But then, he also pointed out how he hasn’t won a road course race since 2021. This raises the question of whether the sport’s most popular driver is a has-been. Is Elliott’s best behind him?
To silence those doubts, Elliott needs to step it up. He needs to win races and go back to being the hero who could tame any challenge thrown at him all season. Petty continued, “Is that good enough? Is that good enough for what the fans’ expectations are? Is that good enough for the Hendrick organization? Is that good enough for the sponsors?”
“If it is, more power to you. But in a sport where we reward wins and we reward championships, we need somebody to step up. Chase has got to step up. And if we are complacent and we are satisfied with as good as it gets, so be it. I am not.”
Elliott‘s next race will be at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, and a win would go a long way in meeting the expectations of critics like Petty.
