Chase Elliott Wary of Hiccups at Darlington and Gateway in Tricky First Round

Chase Elliott was one of the most consistent drivers in the field this regular season. But he will need to do a lot more to ace the challenges of the playoffs coming up.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver knows the task ahead. During this week’s playoff media day, he spoke about how all the rounds are tough, but the first round, which begins at Darlington, would be the toughest.

“I think you have to respect each round. This is going to be a tough round. You know, Darlington’s been a tough track for me. We’ve had some good runs here and there, but certainly not very consistent,” said Elliott.

“And you look at Gateway, I think, as a company, we’ve been kind of off there. Bristol’s been a good track for us, but, you know, that’s only a third of it, right?” He added.

The No. 9 Chevy driver hasn’t reached Victory Lane at Darlington. In the Next Gen era, he has two top-fives and four top-10s. So Elliott wants to get to Sunday fully prepared. 

He has fared similarly, if not worse, in the World Wide Technology Raceway as well. He missed a race at the track in 2023 but finished 21st and 13th in 2022 and 2024, respectively.

The 29-year-old currently sits seven points above the elimination line. His average finish rate of 11.96 tops the Cup Series field. Even then, Elliott acknowledged that one of his biggest weaknesses has been not qualifying well and stressed that he needs to set himself up for better success on race days.

True to his own assessment about qualifying performance, the Dawsonville, Georgia, native will start Sunday’s Southern 500 from 21st place on the grid.

Will experience help Elliott going forward?

Elliott’s only Cup Series title came in 2020, driving a Gen 6 car. Since then, the changes to the cars, tracks, and rules have been significant. So, how much will experience matter in powering another championship run?

“Just having the experience in general, regardless of what the result was in the year before, I think the experience, both good and bad, can be helpful. So that is a great thing for our team. We have a lot of that,” said Elliott, who is one of the four champions in the playoffs.

Out of the four, Elliott, Kyle Larson, and Ryan Blaney are chasing their second title, while Joey Logano will be looking to add a fourth one to his kitty.