(Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
LEBANON, Tenn. — It’s been a weird season for Chase Elliott. He’ll be the first one to tell you that.
“It’s definitely not been normal for sure over the first six months of the year,” Elliott said in a press conference at Nashville Superspeedway. “It’s the reality of where we are now. And for me, I’m just focused on only the things I can control, which is what’s ahead and what’s in front of us right here. Really no need to complicate it more than that. Obviously, if I could go back and change a lot of the things, I would. But I can’t, so we’ll just try to make the most of these next 10 weeks or so and try to get in the show.”
Elliott has missed seven of the first 16 races of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season because of injury and suspension. He broke his tibia in a snowboarding crash in March and missed six races before returning at Martinsville Speedway.
At Charlotte Motor Speedway during the Coca-Cola 600, Elliott right-reared Denny Hamlin into the Turn 4 wall after Hamlin ran him out of room. NASCAR deemed the crash egregious and suspended Elliott for the race at WWT Raceway.
If it wasn’t clear before the suspension, it is now — Elliott’s fate this season is determined by if he wins a regular season race. Beginning with Sunday’s Ally 400, he’ll have just 10 more opportunities to get to victory lane and clinch a spot in the Playoffs.
“I think our team has been really, really strong for the majority of the season,” Elliott said. “I think back to some of the races that I’ve been a part of – a lot of those races I feel like our race team has been better than I have done for them throughout the year. So if we could just combine our efforts, I think it would be really good. If I can bring to the table what they’ve been bringing to the table – on pit road, race strategy and things – I think we’d be in really, really good shape.
“There’s been some high spots. Kansas [Speedway] was a high spot. Fontana [Auto Club Speedway] was a high spot. Sonoma [Raceway] was also very good. Three very different styles of tracks, so that brings some positivity to my mind that it’s there. We just have to extract it here every week for the next 10. Certainly don’t want to go to Daytona [International Speedway] and be in the position to have to win a speedway race to get into the playoffs. Odds are if you’re in that position, you’re probably not going to be much of a threat anyway, in my opinion. We want to be a threat each week from here on, and I intend to do that.”
Before the off-week at Sonoma, Elliott put together arguably his most complete weekend of the season. He made the second round of qualifying for the first time this season and started 10th and kept it toward the front the entire race, coming home with a fifth-place finish.
Elliott has had success at road courses throughout his career, winning seven times including twice at Watkins Glen International and the Charlotte ROVAL. While that Sonoma result won’t get him into the Playoffs, Elliott views it as a momentum builder going into Nashville.
(Photo: Eric Parks | The Podium Finish)
“We didn’t win or anything, but I think we just had a good, solid weekend,” Elliott said. “We got into the second round of qualifying and that was a great thing. We hadn’t been doing a lot of that for quite a while. Just thought we did a lot of little things good last weekend and I felt like I kind of just plugged right back into a good stride and a good cadence. I think that cadence and that stride that we executed with in Sonoma can result in great results from here to Daytona.
“We’re in a tough spot, but I think it’s a great opportunity to go and have some fun and embrace the challenge. That’s really kind of where my head’s at.”
Elliott heads to Nashville as the defending winner. He stole the victory by staying out during a late yellow and pulling away from Kurt Busch on old tires for his second win of the year.
Elliott admitted to struggling early in the race, but after two rain delays turned the conclusion of the race into the night, his car came alive. This year, the race is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CST), meaning the race will naturally turn from day to night.
“I remember last year, kind of thinking back through it – we were already moving up the track,” Elliott said. “The race track was really widening out before the sun went down before that last rain delay if I remember right. I thought we started moving up and it started to get really wide, and the race kind of looked like that for the rest of the night.
“I personally don’t think it will change a whole lot. They said they did the same track prep to the surface, so I think if that’s the case, it will move up at some point. There was a lot of pace when we moved up the track last year, so I think you’ll see more of that. But I don’t think it’ll change much day to night.”
Elliott’s win at Nashville started a tear of three wins in five races, including a victory by disqualification to the top two cars at Pocono Raceway. He’ll search for his second consecutive Nashville victory from starting in the 14th position.
