Chase Elliott has had a good season so far, and he made it into the playoffs by winning at Texas. He has multiple top-5 finishes, and that’s what puts him in a safe spot when it comes to the round of 12. Atlanta played in his favor as he came 8th there, scoring some important playoff points. The Watkins Glen race, on the other hand, was a different story. A P19 finish impacted his points and now NASCAR is heading to Bristol for the final round before there are only 12 drivers left.

NASCAR has already raced once at Bristol this year, and Elliott made a top-10 finish there in March. Although he came in at P8, Elliott had a hard time at the track as there was one problem that they did not account for, Graining, because of which Elliott suffered at the race in spring. But this time they want better results.

Chase Elliott’s mindset while heading into Bristol

Before the practice, FOX Sports journalist Bob Pockrass met the #9 driver and asked him questions about the upcoming race. One of the questions that Pockrass asked Elliott was, “After this practice, are you not going to know [how much tire wear is there] until 100-200 laps into the race tomorrow night?”

Ready with an answer, Chase Elliott stated, “Yeah, that’s a good question. I mean, when I think back to the spring race and kind of what transpired there, there were little signs here and there that something was fixing to be different.”

Elliott explained how he and the Hendrick Motorsports team did not pay attention to the graining of the tires as much as they should have. Claiming, “It kind of fixes itself,” he got in the car to finish P8. Elliott added, “So, whatever happened here in the spring—just like things kept snowballing, you know—we ended up running really slow around the racetracks.”

The race became about preserving tires, and that’s the strategy that Elliott went with. He explained, “We weren’t running as fast, probably not laying as much over. It was kind of cool out, so I do think it was a little bit of a perfect storm, but it was a storm that everyone seemed to like, particularly from the competition side at NASCAR. I think they are trying to recreate that”

That was all before the practice session, and now that we are through with the qualifiers, let’s take a look at where Elliott stands.

Chase Elliott’s position at Bristol

Chase Elliott gave his best at Bristol but the best that he could do was be the 10th fastest driver on the track. He started 10th, in the midfield, where there could have been many cars creating potential wrecks. At the time of writing this article, the 28-year-old stands P9 with 259/500 laps.
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To maximize the result, Elliott will need to lead the pack as soon as possible while maintaining the tires. Although this race won’t put him out of the top 12, he needs to be able to score playoff points. The 2020 champion has a shot at winning his second title and that will only happen if he continues to perform for the next 7 races.