Chase Elliott currently leads the NASCAR Cup Series points table despite having just one victory in the season. The Hendrick Motorsports driver could earn 15 valuable playoff points going into the postseason as regular-season champion if he holds the top spot through the next four races, that is.
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Speaking to the press at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last weekend, Elliott admitted that winning the regular-season championship would mean a lot to him. The advantage that the 15 points bring is the primary reason, of course.
In 2022, after Elliott topped the regular-season points table, his performances in the postseason dipped drastically. He was able to reach the Championship 4 largely because of the playoff points he had secured in the season’s first 26 races.
Elliott admitted that the extra points would be extremely valuable this year, too. “They’d be huge for sure. I’ve been on both sides of the coin there,” he said.
“There have been years where I feel like we’ve not had many playoff points, and we’ve had a couple of years where we’ve had a bunch. I promise it is a lot easier when you have a lot in the bank,” added the 2020 Cup Series champion.
Elliott also reiterated that he would love to get another win or two before the regular season ends. That will ensure he ends up with the extra points in his playoff kitty.
“That’s a much, much better way to go about it. The way the system is, [with] so many things kind of being out of your control, it’s nice to have something to fall back on. So, of course, yeah, we want it all,” added Elliott, who is at the top for now with 726 points and six playoff points.
His teammate, William Byron, trails him in second place with 722 points and 12 playoff points. Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin, who are third and fourth on the table, are in a better position with 23 and 24 playoff points, respectively.
For Elliott to beat out this crowd and gain the biggest advantage in the postseason, he needs to perform at his best through the next four races. This would be an apt moment for him to remember his own words from last year.
“Any playoff points that you can get and stack up can certainly help propel you through the playoffs. We saw that in 2022. We had quite a number stacked up in the bank, and that was why we got to Phoenix,” Elliott had said.
“We had run so badly throughout the course of those playoffs that without our 35 or 40 points that came from wins that we had done early in the season, we would have never made it,” he added.
Hopefully, Elliott will be able to have a stronger postseason this time.
