“I Wasn’t Really Expecting That” – Chase Elliott on the “Kind of Odd” Aspect of NASCAR Owner’s Championship

The 2023 season has been a disappointment for the Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott. Yes, he hasn’t won a race yet so far this year, but this season has always been the first time when Elliott found himself out of the playoffs throughout his Cup Series career. But is it all that bad? Because despite the setback, he still remains in contention for the owner’s championship, which, to Elliott, isn’t all that different from the driver’s championship.

Recently, while speaking about the same, he exclaimed how he did not see much of a difference between competing in the owners’ instead of the driver’s championship from a mental standpoint.

Chase Elliott feels owners and driver’s championships weigh the same for him

While speaking with journalist Bob Pockrass, Elliott mentioned, “My approach really and team approach has not been any different. And it’s kind of I guess it’s kind of surprised me in a way just because obviously there’s a lot of talk about the driver side, there’s not really a lot of talk about the owners front.”

Chase Elliott says there’s no real difference in the intensity being in the owner’s playoffs but not the driver playoffs. pic.twitter.com/iLDSyGxtYM

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) September 27, 2023

“But… Once the deal got started, I don’t really feel any different than I felt in years past. So it still keeps us very motivated and keeps me motivated, to want to go and do a good job. So, yeah, nothing, nothing really feels any different, which is kind of kind of odd.”

“I wasn’t really expecting that I guess. I guess I wasn’t really thinking about that, as we were leading into the into the cut-off.” Elliott further stated now that they are in the postseason, it feels like just another playoff year.

How did Elliott make it into the owner’s playoffs?

After Elliott could not win a race throughout the duration of the regular season, along with his absence from quite a few races due to an injury, he could not qualify for the round of 16. Despite performing well enough towards the end, with a runner-up finish at the Indy Road Course, he was beaten to the final spot by Bubba Wallace.

Interestingly, despite not making it into the driver’s playoff, the performance of Elliott’s replacement driver Josh Berry allowed him to knock out Wallace from the owner’s playoffs. This was made possible when Berry finished second at Richmond Raceway while driving the #9 car in Elliott’s absence.

So considering that, Elliott still remains in contention to win the championship but for his team at the end of the season. But that would only be possible if he is able to outrun the other 15 competing cars in the owner’s playoffs.