NASCAR’s golden boy and the most popular driver, Chase Elliott has gone through a lot in the past months. From a terrible snowboarding accident that broke his leg, sidelining the champion, missing seven races last year, and his shoulder surgery, Elliott’s stock has taken a hit, plunging to an all-time low.
In fact, unable to get back on his winning ways, the driver’s reputation as the sport’s most popular might be really at stake here as analysts have even heard the crowd booing Elliott recently.
Chase Elliott continues his downward spiral as he extends his winless streak in COTA
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Hendrick Motorsports is off to a flying start, kicking things off with a massive win at Daytona with William Byron gifting the team a perfect season-opener. This was followed by Kyle Larson’s Las Vegas triumph as the 2021 Cup Series champion put on a show, dominating the field, and adding one more to the list. Byron and Larson combined won three of the first six NASCAR Cup Series races this season, including Byron’s triumph at COTA.
Even Alex Bowman who was struck down by an untimely accident last season has bounced back decently, posting three top-fives and then there is Chase Elliott who has just one top-10 finish. Ever since the nasty Colorado accident, the 2020 Cup Series champion seems more like a mere image of his former self. Mentioning the crowd’s disdain, Kraft mentioned the boos for Elliott in Bristol and subsequently asked, his buddy, “Is he ever in jeopardy of losing that most popular driver award?”
To which, Brett Griffin simply said, “He could man. I mean when you look back and he hadn’t won a race in a couple of years.” The Kaulig Racing spotter then mentioned the rough road Elliott has been in the past few months.
He said, “He’s coming off of injury, he’s coming off surgery, didn’t he have shoulder surgery? and I don’t think you know that probably gets enough attention that takes a while to come back from.” But truth be told, despite his ninth ranking in the points standings, at this rate, the driver is most likely to lose the award as the community seems to get over the Elliott hype train that was once smoking and steamrolling the competition.
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Elliott’s dismal performance in 2024
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Chase Elliott’s winless streak may not be the top storyline in NASCAR yet in 2024, but it is something to keep an eye on through the spring, something that has kept Elliott fans awake at night, killing their comfort. Despite winning the most popular award last year, Elliott’s reputation is really at stake now with his teammates outshining the driver.
The driver’s last win came at Talladega in October of 2022. Since then, Elliott has had an injury, a one-race suspension, and a drop in overall success that has contributed to the winless streak. While the 28-year-old still has the numbers advantage when it comes to wins and Cup championships, including champions like Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski the fact of the matter is that Elliott’s winless streak is frustrating a lot of fans and it certainly needs to end to soon.
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READ MORE: Chase Elliott Has Fallen Off His Pedestal With Fans Allegedly Booing the 6x Most Popular Driver