Chase Elliott finds himself in a precarious position, facing a must-win scenario with only two races left to secure his spot in the Championship 4. Currently languishing at the bottom of the playoff standings in eighth place, he trails by 53 points.
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In a recent interview with Claire B. Lang, when asked whether he plans to adopt an aggressive strategy in the upcoming races, Elliott indicated a preference for keeping it clean on the track. The #9 Hendrick Motorsports driver reflected,
“I think when you get This time of year. It can become easy to see the… light at the end of the tunnel and want to maybe be a little more aggressive than. And you probably should be at times and I’ve been guilty of that for sure. I think everyone probably has at one point or another.”
He added, “I would like to think that we are all smart enough to make good decisions and try to do things the right way. That’s how I would like to see things done.”
Elliott also touched on the intense pressure that can drive competitors to cross the line in their desperation to win, potentially causing wrecks to advance their positions. Nonetheless, he holds out hope that drivers will choose to compete honorably.
Reflecting on the legends of the sport, Elliott noted that if one leafs through the history books of NASCAR and studies the legends who have won over the years, they won’t find many of those names associated with causing incidents or resorting to reckless tactics to secure wins.
On the contrary, they were simply faster or more strategic, and that’s how they sealed their victories. That’s precisely the approach Elliott believes the drivers, including himself, should emulate if they aim to be counted among the greats in the annals of NASCAR history.
So, @chaseelliott must win @HomesteadMiami or @MartinsvilleSwy to make playoffs. It's all the talk.
But what does Chase think he has to do different in a "must win" playoff situation? How much actually changes? I sought an answer to that from Chase yesterday and he delivered: pic.twitter.com/O7g81FvnVb— Claire B Lang (@ClaireBLang) October 24, 2024
The No. 9 HMS driver discusses his approach to the upcoming crucial weekends
Elliott will approach Homestead-Miami Speedway with a track record of an average finish of 10.4 across eight starts, despite not having clinched a win yet. His closest brush with victory was a second-place finish in 2022. Last year, he ended the race in 15th place after starting 16th.
Faced with a do-or-die scenario this time around, Elliott shared his thoughts and strategy, saying, “Our point situation is… what it is and we are in a must-win situation for the next two weeks.”
“How we achieve that, if we’re able to go out there and win a race, I would prefer just to go be faster than everyone else and call a good race and execute a good day and that would be how I’d like to go about it.”
While he’s focused on outright speed and strategy, Elliott hasn’t ruled out alternative tactics like fuel-saving, which Joey Logano successfully employed at Las Vegas. He noted that while Logano maximized his fuel strategy, he managed to compete cleanly, avoiding reckless maneuvers.
