Chase Elliott had a decent race in Homestead-Miami this Sunday. He went in knowing that nothing less than a win would suffice. While he failed to visit victory lane, he put up his best performance at the track to date and grabbed a respectable fifth-place finish.
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This would have been cause to celebrate in any other scenario, but not now. By not securing the win, he has managed to multiply the pressure on himself. He now sits 43 points below the elimination line and has one race left to make up for it. What this means is that he needs to win in Martinsville next weekend, a wild-card venue under the current circumstances.
In a surprising twist, some fans don’t believe that the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports driver has what it takes to perform under this tricky scenario and turn the table.
One such fan went rather extreme in their opinion and responded to an X (formerly Twitter) post by NASCAR, “Washed up. Time to let daddy buy him another ride elsewhere”. Elliott not making it to the Championship 4 race this season will certainly be disappointing for Rick Hendrick. But it is not a reason for him to cut the most popular driver in the sport from his roster.
He’s done it before. #Xfinity500 pic.twitter.com/jqT4XYVRQS
— Xfinity Racing (@XfinityRacing) October 27, 2024
Another wrote, “Well we know he ain’t winning!! Lmao” Clearly, not a fan of the 2020 Cup Series champion. Elliott was poised to take the win during many stages of the race. He was running second with 59 laps to go. But the problem was in his inability to hold on to the momentum and see it through. One frustrated follower lamented, “Raced aggressive all day, but gave up when it mattered”.
History takes the side of Elliott even though fans don’t
This situation isn’t an unknown enemy for Elliott. He was sixth in the standings before the final Round of 8 race in 2020. He had to close a 25-point gap in Martinsville to progress to the season finale, basically, a win would have been critical at that juncture. Thankfully, the No. 9 Camaro was able to blaze through the short track that night and reach victory lane which surprised many.
He said in his post-race interview, “To be backed into a corner like that and have to win tonight, I feel like that’s what we’ve been missing these past four of five years. To perform when we don’t have a choice. And to do that tonight, I couldn’t ask for a better night. It’s just unreal.”
Fast forward to the present, Elliott once again finds himself in a similar must-win situation. Will he get out of it and go on to collect his second Cup Series championship? None can deny that he has a chance knowing well that he has pulled off the trick in the past.
