Two Hendrick Motorsports drivers are on a fiery streak at present. Both dominated the podium spots last weekend – Kyle Larson swept off most of the Bristol race, and Chase Elliott landed in second place. They also have amazing odds of excelling at Kansas. While Larson executed a photo finish in the spring race, Elliott leads all drivers with a 10.2 average finish in 17 starts. However, Elliott may be counting on that.

The No. 9 Chevrolet driver is well aware of the challenges ahead. A beast of a 2.66-mile drafting track awaits drivers with fangs out and fists balled up. So Chase Elliott is counting his blessings and leaning on an exceptional performance this weekend.

Chase Elliott admits to a ‘traditional’ hope

Ever since Talladega Superspeedway was unveiled in 1969, drivers have feared the track. Ranging from Rusty Wallace’s violent airborne flip in 1993 right up to the multi-car tangle on the last lap this year, this track has never failed to terrify. Even Kyle Larson confessed to feeling relieved with the schedule: “I like that Kansas is first rather than being the last in the round.” So Chase Elliott is presently relying on the track he trusts – Kansas Speedway – to haul him out of a possible Talladega disaster.

He harped on Talladega’s fearsome nature: “Talladega always is…whichever round that one falls in every year, it’s always a bit unpredictable. You just don’t know what’s gonna happen.” Chase Elliott owns one 2018 victory at the 1.5-mile tri-oval among 8 top-five finishes. Although we have not attended a 1.5 miler since the Coca-Cola 600 race, Elliott likes to believe in the track’s classic nature that might rescue him. “So when you have those races in the rounds, it’s always really important to take advantage of I guess what you would call a traditional weekend.”

Chase Elliott affirmed his confidence in Kansas, where he clinched a top-five position earlier this year, as he continued. “I think this is certainly one of them. The way I look at that is, there’s more in my hands this weekend than there’s gonna be in Talladega next weekend. And I would like to take advantage of that, make it to where next week doesn’t matter.” Elliott owns two victories at Talladega – 2019 and 2022 – so you can imagine how that track can make even the stellar drivers tremble. Now that NASCAR has set off whispers of installing unnecessary air deflectors on cars, drivers are more tense.

Unfortunately, Chase Elliott’s chances look slimmer as well due to an unexpected mishap.

Elliott’s qualifying went awry

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Among all the HMS drivers, William Byron qualified the best for Kansas. He clinched a 6th place spot – followed by Kyle Larson in 11th and Alex Bowman in 12th. But Chase Elliott’s spot is way back in the rear. The No. 9 Chevy sat on the pit road with its hood up in the second half of the 20-minute session. Although the team worked on the car, Elliott subsequently posted the slowest lap due to an unprecedented engine issue. The crew said they are still evaluating the problem and would change engines before Sunday’s event.

The 2020 Cup Series champion confessed his worries about this slip-up. “Obviously, when you have an engine issue like that, it can be difficult to identify what exactly is broken. For me, I came off Turn 2 and basically just felt like it went down a cylinder, audible change, and lost a lot of power, so I knew something was wrong and came in as quick as I could, just to try to keep from messing it up any worse. But such a bummer. What a terrible time to have something go wrong. The Hendrick engine shop has been so good throughout my career. I don’t even think I’ve filled up a hand of engine issues that we’ve had over the course of my entire career, so I hate it.”

But Elliott significantly added that he “would much rather have it happen today than tomorrow.” So let us see if Chase Elliott’s trump card works out for him after all.