Hendrick Motorsports superstar Chase Elliott is never really out of contention for a race win or even the championship title. The fans irrevocably love him and never tire of seeing him in the victory lane. However, there does exist the mirage that his performances in the Next Gen era don’t quite match those of Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, or William Byron. How solid is this contention?
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The recent race at Watkins Glen was the 100th of the Next Gen era, making now an ideal point to break down Elliott’s rather underrated mastery of the seventh-generation Cup Series car. First off, he has the most top-15s (68) and the most top-20s (77) in this period. He has finished between 11th and 15th position, a class-leading 20 times. He also has the best average finishing position (12.44).
The son of Bill Elliott also has the most consecutive top-3 finishes (5), consecutive top-5 finishes (5), and consecutive top-20 finishes (22). All these numbers point to the high level of consistency that Elliott has been able to nurture over these last 100 races. An important point to note is that he did not participate in all these races and still managed to pull up these competitive figures.
Watkins Glen marked race 100 in the NextGen Era
Here’s a breakdown of some of the top drivers: pic.twitter.com/nBNe9GKJCT
— Trey Ryan (@TreyRyan99) September 16, 2024
Only fate can answer how much better his stat book would look had he been able to start the seven races that he missed in 2023. He might not have led the most laps or won the most races, but he has managed to hold his own despite the struggles that he faced in the new machinery. He is only going to adapt further to it with time and things are bound to get scary when he does.
What are Elliott’s issues with the Next Gen car?
Seven months after the car was introduced, Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman, and Cody Ware suffered a severe crash in Talladega. The concussions they suffered led Elliott to launch a seething attack against the car. “No one’s immune to it,” he told the press. “It could be me next week. It could be any of my peers or fellow competitors. I just hate to see us go backwards and I’m afraid that we have.”
Fast-forward to 2024 and he still has issues with it. He said back in June that the car prefers to go straight in and out of corners, unlike the previous sixth-gen car. He added, “With the old cars, I think you could get away with really being on the rears and getting by with it at a lot of tracks with the side force that those cars had. This car is just not that way. It wants to be really straight.”
He voiced his thoughts against the car even as recently as before the Watkins Glen race. Asked about how the Next Gen car has impacted his road course driving, he said that passing has become a lot more difficult. Regardless of his complaints, the numbers prove that he is slowly but surely getting his fingers around the car. In all probability, it won’t be long before he guides his No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro to the Cup Series title once again.
