Chase Elliott made the playoffs this season once again after what was a heartbreaking miss in 2023. He has been one of the most consistent drivers so far and even kickstarted the playoffs with an eighth-place finish in Atlanta the earlier weekend. But his history with playoff-opening races hasn’t always been this clean and mishap-free. Let’s take a deeper look into his rather unfortunate trend.
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The playoff opener in 2016 was held in Chicago. Elliott led 75 laps and was cruising towards the victory lane when a caution came out with five laps to go. He lost positions on the pit road and ended up in third place. In 2017, he finished as the runner-up after being penalized for infractions. The next season, Jamie McMurray suffered a tire failure right in front of him in Las Vegas.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver was unable to finish his race. 2019 offered a slight breather as he came in fourth place. 2020 was once again a heartbreaking affair in the Southern 500. He led over 115 laps in Darlington when Truex Jr. took him out attempting a slide job. He finished in 20th place. In 2021, Elliott crashed after his tire blew and destroyed his No. 9 Camaro.
. @chaseelliott in the first #NASCARPlayoffs RO16 race:
2016 Chicago: P3
2017 Chicago: P2
2018 Las Vegas: P36 (crash)
2019 Las Vegas: P4
2020 Southern 500: P20
2021 Southern 500: P31 (crash)
2022 Southern 500: P36 (dvp) pic.twitter.com/gj5IvGuNci— Juan (@leclercelliott_) September 8, 2024
2022 was again a similar case. He crashed and his team failed to put his car back on the track within the time stipulated by the Damaged Vehicle Policy. He was able to put off some of this negativity by finishing eighth in the 2023 Southern 500. But then again, it didn’t matter much considering he hadn’t secured a playoff spot.
The near-crash experience that Elliott faced in Atlanta
2024 nearly became the year of another playoff-opener mishap for Elliott. There was a moment during the Atlanta race when Corey LaJoie took him three-wide and nearly made contact on a narrow stretch. Thankfully, it did not bother Elliott’s car much. “I don’t think it impacted how it drove, not under these circumstances. I think we got pretty lucky on that,” he later said.
Following the Atlanta finish, he traveled to Watkins Glen this Sunday and secured a 19th-place finish. It wasn’t the expected result by any means but every playoff driver struggled to get their cars across the checkered flag in his defense. He is now 30 points above the playoff elimination line.
One more race remains in the Round of 16 and it will be held at Bristol next weekend. His benefactors at Hendrick Motorsports have tasked him and his teammates with winning the team a championship on its 40th anniversary. The popular driver will seek to take the lead in this charge soon.
