Chase Elliott qualified sixth for Sunday’s Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway. (Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Chase Elliott is carrying a quiet but genuine sense of confidence ahead of Sunday’s Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway.
Persevering through tough results at Daytona and Atlanta, Elliott rallied to his first top five result of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season with a fourth at Circuit of the Americas.
Before taking to the 1-mile track for Saturday’s preliminaries, Elliott offered a positive perspective with his team, cars and mindset after the first three races of the year.
“I feel confident. I feel good. I feel like we’ve been in a good place,” Elliott said. “Excited about how we’ve been running. Excited about how our cars have drove. I think the team’s been giving me all the things that I asked for.
“And, as a driver, that’s really all you all you can ask for is to get those things and have your car comfortable and in a position to make pace and and be comfortable doing it. So, yeah, I don’t have a lot to complain about right now.”
The verdict is not out yet for Elliott and his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet team. Phoenix may be a traditional oval in terms of grip and handling mattering but Elliott may not have the best pulse on his team’s overall performance until month’s end with Las Vegas, Homestead-Miami and Martinsville on the docket.
“Well, this is a new season, and we’re just kinda getting started,” he said. “So I think until we get through this weekend, through next weekend and understand where you stack up at what I would kinda consider normal racetracks, [it’s] probably a little too early to to say. But I feel like we’re in a good spot.”
Now, Elliott looks for race weekends where the only battles he must encounter are for positions and wins alongside crew chief Alan Gustafson. Last Sunday’s race was just another example of Elliott’s resolve and his team’s determination paying dividends when it mattered.
Chase Elliott captured a sixth place starting position for Sunday’s Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway. (Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)
“I think right now, for us, we just want to have a good clean race,” Elliott said in a team press release. “The team has put in the work to bring fast Chevrolets for me each week, but we’ve unfortunately had something happen to us in every race. To bounce back last week and get a top five was big.”
Keeping out of harm’s way is the objective of every driver and team, but admittedly, the 2020 Cup Series champion has been swept up in incidents that are not of his doing.
The native of Dawsonville, Georgia, wants to put an end to such a notorious streak come Sunday afternoon.
“I’m looking forward to looking forward to seeing where we are,” he shared. “I think we’ve been bringing really fast cars each weekend. Our prep’s been really nice. We’ve just had eventful weekends. I think we’ve crashed every week, in some way, shape, or form so far this year. So we just need to stop doing that.”
Like teammate Kyle Larson, Elliott echoed the same sentiments about Hendrick Motorsports’ struggles at Phoenix. However, he feels like they hit a turning point last fall during the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race, finally tallying a top 10 in his past five starts at this venue.
Chase Elliott may have a sliver of optimism with Hendrick Motorsports’ gains at Phoenix Raceway. (Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)
“Phoenix hasn’t necessarily been a strong track for us in the Next Gen, but we made some headway there last fall,” he added. “So I’m looking forward to seeing how we stack up this weekend.”
As for the keys to success at Phoenix, Elliott seemed to have a prophetic vision. Despite posting the 20th fastest overall time and 18th fastest 10-lap consecutive average run, he qualified sixth.
“There’s a lot of things, but certainly having a good Saturday, I think, starts the setup for a good Sunday,” Elliott observed. “Having a good pit stall, having a good qualifying position, all those things. Track position is really important here.”
After a good Saturday for Elliott and his No. 9 team, the battle for prime track position begins along with Elliott’s pursuit for his first win of 2025.
Editor’s Notes
Michele Aerin contributed to this article onsite from Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.
