The countdown to the 2024 season’s penultimate race is on and with only two slots remaining for the Championship 4 — thanks to victories by Tyler Reddick and Joey Logano in the initial Round of 8 races — the competition is heating up. At Martinsville, the remaining six drivers, including Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin, will vie for those coveted spots.
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Elliott, who has an impressive track record at Martinsville with an average finish of 12.7 across 18 starts, including a win, six top-5s, and eleven top-10s, remains cool under pressure.
Fresh off a strong performance at Homestead, the Hendrick Motorsports driver expressed his relaxed approach, saying, “I’ve kind of grown to just enjoy these opportunities, to be still in the fight with two weeks left.”
He continued, “What else can you ask for aside from already having a win or being in a really good points spot? There’s a great opportunity for us right there in front of us and at the end of the day it’s up to us to go and either capitalize on that or give it all trying. That’s where my head is.”
Currently, Elliott is eighth in the standings, trailing the cutoff by 43 points — a gap that’s likely too vast to bridge in just one race. According to the statistics, Elliott‘s odds of clinching the Championship this season hover around a slim 1.4%, with his prospects of moving beyond the Round of 8 at just 6.7%.
Above all others yet to secure their spot, Bell stands out as the most likely to advance to the Championship 4. The #20 driver boasts an average finish of 16.2 across his nine starts at the track.
The crew chief for Elliott, the #9 HMS driver, shared insights into Elliott’s current playoff scenario
Elliott last crossed the checkered flag in first place at Martinsville back in the fall of 2020, following it up with another victory at Phoenix Raceway that secured him the Cup Series championship.
This season, though, despite an impressive streak of finishing in the top 20 for the first 19 races, the upcoming race poses a significant challenge.
Crew chief Alan Gustafson, discussing their strategy for Martinsville, suggested they might take a less pressured approach this Sunday. He remarked:
“I don’t feel like that generates more pressure, I feel like that’s a bit liberating because it strips down everything else. It’s very clear and calm and focused in my opinion, that it’s just simply about winning.”
The race will mark Elliott’s seventh venture into the Round of 8, as he aims for his fourth Championship 4 appearance.
