It’s not that the hope is gone, but with such a bottleneck situation, the times seem to be very tough for Chase Elliott. With only two races at Hampstead Miami and Martinsville left for Elliott to salvage his position, the odds seem to be stacked against him. Despite that, the Hendrick Motorsports driver has managed to keep up a bright face. 

Optimism is the new mantra for victory 

The Las Vegas Speedway did not prove eventful for Chase Elliott. Following a detrimental crash at the Las Vegas Speedway, Elliott fell further back. He finished 33rd, dropping his standing to eighth position, perilously close to falling out of the top-four contention. He now stands approximately 53 points below the cutline, which honestly is not a good prospect.

The crash occurred towards the end of lap 89 when a sudden blur seemed to hit Martin Truex Jr. Truex Jr. was already running on the inside of Elliott when Reddick ended up between the two. The cars were all set to exit turn four when Elliott slipped to the outside. This ultimately caused a collision involving both him and Reddick, also drawing in Keselowski. With Homestead Miami and Martinsville as the next stops, concerns seem to deepen for Elliott. While he has never won at Miami, Elliott has secured one victory at Martinsville.

Now, the situation may be daunting, but the fan-favorite driver refuses to lose faith, clinging steadfastly to hope. In an official interview with NASCAR, he seemed quite optimistic about the upcoming opportunities. He said, “Yeah I mean you are always looking to the next challenge, looking to the next opportunity to go and be better. It’s not a one-man band, right? It’s such a team effort for all of us to finally have an opportunity to kind of enjoy that moment together as a team. Fire away here and see what we got”.  While there are a lot of drivers who would prefer to go aggressive at this point, Elliot is not one of them. Divulging his strategy for Homestead, Elliott mentioned, “Our point situation is what it is and we are in a must-win situation for the next two weeks. I would prefer just to be faster than everyone else, call a good race, execute a good day. That would be how I like to go about it”.

Following Chase Elliott’s recent setbacks, the racing community has been abuzz with opinions on his strategy. Among those weighing in is Denny Hamlin, who shared his thoughts on how Elliott can turn his season around.

Denny Hamlin’s advice for Elliott to call final shots

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. had recently weighed in on Elliott’s challenging situation, highlighting the uncomfortable tension among Hendrick Motorsports drivers as they compete for the same spots. Elliott’s teammates, Kyle Larson and William Byron, are currently ahead of the Championship 4 cut line, making it even more pressing for him to secure a win. So, amidst these challenging times, Chase Elliott’s position has even garnered advice from one of NASCAR’s veterans and also his competitor.

In a recent episode of “Actions Detrimental” with Denny Hamlin, the Joe Gibbs driver divulged the optimal strategy for Elliott to follow. Hamlin said, “Chase Elliott, we talked about his points position, he’s in the cellar. Not good. He was definitely kind of an innocent bystander. It looks like he, you know, watching the beginning of the race, he was coming to the front pretty quickly, and I saw after the race he was pretty happy with his car before that crash. He’s probably stronger at Martinsville than he is at Homestead. He’s going to try to win both, but I give his best shot to win at Martinsville”.

This victory came at Martinsville during the Xfinity 500 at the Martinsville Speedway in 2020 after he led for 236 laps. This was also the victory that had propelled him into the Championship 4 for the very first time in his career. In 2024, Elliott’s chances of advancing to the next round are estimated at 10.17%, according to NASCAR statistics. However, he’s proven his skills at Martinsville, and a win there could propel him back into contention. With the pressure mounting, Elliott will need to draw on his past successes to repeat history and keep his championship hopes alive.