Chase Elliott heaved a sigh of relief at Texas Motor Speedway earlier this season as he snapped a 42-race winless streak. The Hendrick Motorsports star did not look to be at his best since his snowboarding accident in 2023. He celebrated the long-awaited victory with a Polish victory lap, something that had not been done in the sport for several years. It was an incredible moment for the fans in attendance and the driver of the #9 car.
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The Polish victory lap was made famous by the late great Alan Kulwicki. The NASCAR legend took his first race win at the Phoenix Raceway in 1988 driving for AK Racing. The Polish-American driver proceeded to drive around the track slowly in the opposite direction as he waved to the fans in attendance. That’s exactly what Elliott recreated in Texas and revived an age-old tradition. He might do that again the next time he wins a race in the Cup Series.
For the fans. pic.twitter.com/y2rYVf1Jdx
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 14, 2024
The Texas win was not just important for Elliott but the whole #9 team. 2023 was a disaster as they could not make the playoffs on points. The win earlier this year instilled them with a lot of confidence as they have been running consistently well since then. The HMS star has earned four top-five and seven top-10 finishes in the 13 races following the victory. This has given them a chance to fight for the regular season championship.
Currently, Elliott sits second on the points table, 10 points behind teammate Kyle Larson in the regular season championship. Winning this title would give him 15 playoff points, which is equivalent to three race wins. It would massively help the #9 team in the playoffs even if their performance hits a snag in one of the rounds. It would also give him a lot of momentum in his quest for that second Cup Series championship.
A win in the remaining few races of the regular season could see him move past his teammate and claim the top spot on the table. It’s not going to be easy since Larson has also been winning races this season. It remains to be seen how the intra-team battle pans out once NASCAR resumes racing at Richmond Raceway.
