?He Hasn?t Even Really Been as Fast? ? Denny Hamlin Calls Out Chase Elliott Losing His Throne After the 2021 Season

You wouldn’t be wrong if you believed Chase Elliott to be a strong road course racer. Back in 2021, he unfailingly finished in the top 2 on road courses. The No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro driver even went all the way to win at Road America and the Circuit of The Americas, cementing his dominance on a road course. But since the 2021 season, he hasn’t been as dominant, with his best finish being 2nd on a road course circuit at Road America in 2022.

Elliott is having a dismal 2023 season as he finds himself 23rd in the standings with a very slim chance of making it to the playoffs. One could argue that it is because he has missed a bunch of races due to his broken foot. But Denny Hamlin doesn’t share the same opinion. As per Denny, Elliott’s performance has dropped since 2021 on road courses.

However, the No. 11 Toyota Camry driver shared his thoughts in a recent episode of his podcast, Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin. He argued that Elliott hasn’t been that fast as of late.

Denny thinks Chase Elliott is losing his “dominance.”

Denny Hamlin knows that Chase Elliott has dominated road courses in the past. But during his conversation with Jared, he pointed out how Hendrick Motorsports’s No. 9 has been losing its supremacy gradually. While Denny acknowledges that the competition has risen to the occasion, he remains firm in his opinion that Elliott is losing his edge.

Denny said: “He hasn’t even really been as fast on the road courses as I’ve seen in the past,” said Hamlin. “Is it that the other guys are getting better? Maybe. Is his car not as good? Maybe. Each time we go to a road course, the competition is going to be better.”

“For a while there he was just in the top 3, just penciled him into a top 3 finish,” he added. “Because he, you know, was that fast. He had the speed to do it. I thought that the Chicago road course was like, he wasn’t nearly as fast as you would expect. It may be that it was just a street course thing I am not sure.”

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Chase Elliott has finished 4th in the past 2 seasons after winning the title in 2020. These numbers do not reflect his potential behind the wheel, but he has come out and spoken about the problems he has been facing recently.

Is Elliott affected by HMS after the summer stretch?

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In an interview with NBS, Elliott discussed the massive changes that the team went through and how he is coping with the new environment. He said, “We had a good summer stretch, but a lot has changed since then.”

“I think personally, the setups and just the direction that the garage went in were a pretty large departure from what we had success with through the early stages of the season and through the summer months,” he added.

While the first few races of the season haven’t been in the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro driver’s favor, we are still left with seven more races. Will Chase Elliott be able to turn his season around and get more stage points in Michigan, Daytona, and other races?

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