There has been a lot of hope for Chase Elliott to make it into the playoffs this season, considering how dreadful it has been for him so far. Although, after spinning out during qualifying, there seems to be little to no hope for the Hendrick Motorsports driver, at least this week in Pocono.
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Heading into the race this Sunday, Elliott will start from the back of the grid in 35th place. This diminishes any hope of him being able to clench his first win this season. Furthermore, looking at his current standings in the points, and his performance up to now, there is little to no hope for the 2020 Cup Series champion to recover with ease.
Meanwhile, racing in the Xfinity Series on Saturday, Elliott ended up finishing in the 3rd place. This is a good indicator of his overall pace, but it makes one wonder as to why he can’t replicate something similar with the HMS car in the Cup Series.
Well, speaking to the media, following the Xfinity race Elliott explained his situation.
Elliott remains critical despite third place finish
Speaking to the media on the pit road, Elliott stated, “I thought it was okay… Nothing special by any means, but you know we ended up with a solid result. Just needed to recognize what I needed in the car a little sooner so I could relay that to the team.”
Right after, a reporter asked what would he take from his Xfinity run into Sunday’s Cup run, despite the cars being very different. Elliott responded, “Not a lot, honestly. I mean they are just so different now.”
“I think other than just having some reps at the track and maybe some tendencies on restarts and lanes, maybe. They’re just different, they’re very different nowadays. So we’ll see, we might get it tomorrow, we might be very similar in some areas. I don’t think it’d be a bit different.”
NASCAR fans react to Chase Elliott after spinning at Pocono Qualifying
After clips of Elliott’s spin emerged on social media, several NASCAR fans reacted to the incident. Some of them called him an “L driver,” while others pointed out that he was pushing hard because he knows he might just not make it into the postseason.
L driver
— Crazy Gamers (@CrazyGamers8799) July 22, 2023
— Tucker Gray (@TuckerGray1) July 22, 2023
He pushing too much cause he knows his playoff chances are up in smoke
— Ospreay for G1 33 and IWGP US CHAMP (@BooherElijah) July 22, 2023
He just needs to give up on this season and start focusing on next year
— Austin Cooper (@AustinC76522755) July 22, 2023
Well, despite starting near the end of the field, there is still hope, although not too much. But with 5 more races remaining after Pocono and one of them being Watkins Glen, there might still be a bit of hope remaining for Elliott’s playoff chances.
Although, considering his overall pace up to this point in time, even if he does make it into the playoffs, he would not last in the elimination rounds for very long.
