Chase Elliott’s playoff chances have become the Talk of the town nowadays, and why not? However, this year hasn’t unfolded as expected for the Hendrick Motorsports driver, largely due to a snowboarding injury and a suspension that affected his performance on the track.
Despite not performing this year, there are people, including Jimmie Johnson’s crew chief and Steve Post, who firmly believe in Chase Elliott’s potential, and they couldn’t take Elliott’s name off the playoff list. Admittedly, his odds may seem slim, as he is currently 60 points short of the playoff cutoffs. To solidify his place in the playoffs, Chase needs to secure at least one race victory. Recently, in just 11 words, Chase Elliott revealed the reality behind these captivating storylines.
“I hope here this weekend”, Chase Elliott headstrong ahead of Pocono
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Upon his return from injury to racing, Chase Elliott managed to display his exceptional performance, raising hopes that even without a race win, he might qualify for the playoffs based on accumulated points. Unfortunately, a significant setback occurred when he was involved in a wreck with Hamlin at Charlotte, leading to a race suspension at the World Wide Technology Raceway.
Despite this setback, Chase showed resilience, securing top-5 finishes in the next three races. However, his results in Atlanta and New Hampshire were not satisfactory, leading many to believe that winning races is now essential for his playoff hopes. The sudden change in the storyline placed immense pressure on Chase Elliott’s shoulders, and he addressed this in a recent interview ahead of the Pocono Raceway event.
He acknowledged the fluctuating narratives, “My thought process since all this has happened is that we are going to have to win. That is kind of what everybody was saying until we had a few good weeks of points and then everybody was like ‘Oh, he can point his way in’. So, the storylines can change pretty fast.”
Things are going to be challenging for HMS golden boy to tackle victory in the remaining six races. But everyone has solid hope in Chase and rightfully so the way he proved before.
In fact, last year’s Pocono victory is still fresh and Fans even Chase Elliott believe that he can win at Pocono this year too and he is looking for that win. A reporter asked him about the possibility of winning within the six remaining tracks and Chase confidently replied, “I hope here this weekend.”
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The playoff battle reaches its intense mode as Bubba Wallace, AJ Allmendinger, Michael McDowell, and Daniel Suarez are sitting just one point apart from each other. On the other hand, Chase Elliott is preparing to clear the checkered flag at Pocono. Well, HMS’ Alex Bowman is still in that battle, as he too has the potential to win a race and enter a playoff bubble.
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Amidst all the chaos of predictions and rivalries, Denny Hamlin, who became a new rival for Chase Elliott after their crash at Charlotte, has surprising beliefs in Chase’s potential. Despite their on-track incident, Hamlin is now acknowledging and respecting Elliott’s abilities as a formidable competitor.
He said, “He still makes it. I’m going to die on this hill. Chase Elliott is still gonna make it, but I think it’s gonna be because he wins. Chase Elliott fans let’s hold hands. We’re going, unite And we’re gonna will this thing to happen for you guys?”
Things are still uncertain, but the anticipation is at a high level, and fans are excited to cheer Chase Elliott on at Pocano, and they want him to replicate a win the way he did last year.
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