“I’m Not Giving up on Three”: Jeff Gordon Sends Chase Elliott a Message as He Reveals HMS’ Playoff Outlook

For a team with the caliber of Hendrick Motorsports’, no mission is impossible. But what’s coming might just prove to be so. As we head to Martinsville for the Xfinity 500 race on Sunday, the team’s drivers will each have a different agenda. For the former champion Chase Elliott, it will be to move up in the owner’s championship standings. Out of the playoffs, he has been driving with the goal of providing some consolation on his part for Rick Hendrick.

And now, he has a top man breathing down his neck to ensure that he does so. In a recent conversation with Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass, HMS vice-chairman Jeff Gordon, let his staunch want from his drivers known.

The racing legend Jeff Gordon has strong demands from his team

Around this time of the year, Elliott would have usually been locked into the Championship 4, or at least be fighting for his spot. But 2023 has been much different from what he has experienced in NASCAR thus far. Missing out on many races and failing to find his knack for the win upon returning, the #9 driver missed out on making the playoffs. Despite the disappointment, he has been pushing himself to climb the ladder in the owner’s championship with stand-out performances in the postseason. Rather tragedically, he has been failing in that too.

Currently sitting 8th in the owner’s standings, Elliott faces a must-win situation at Martinsville to even have a chance at Phoenix. With the hopes of a 2023 owner’s championship dwindling for the #9 team, Hendrick Motorsports will be largely relying on the marvel of Kyle Larson and William Byron. Nevertheless, talking to Pockrass, Gordon made sure that his intentions were clear. The reporter asked, “What would it mean to have two in the final four? I know the goal every year is four in the final four, but is two somewhat OK?”

The vice-chairman curtly replied, “I’m not giving up on three.” With Elliott not completely out of the picture for the Owner’s Championship 4 at Phoenix, it is only reasonable that the legend expects big from him. Fortunately, despite his standing, Elliott could still draw parallels to the playoff outlook of his team.

Watch Story: Chase Elliott’s Struggle and Fight for Redemption

One last shot remaining in the barrel, Chase Elliott rides to Martinsville atop an excellent track record

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Talking to SiriusXM earlier this month, Jordon had expressed his seriousness about the owner’s championship. He said, “We are focused on the drivers, which I think is great, but what can we do more to recognize the efforts of the teams and that championship that’s going on? Because that’s where the money comes from. (…) In Formula 1, they have a constructor’s championship where it’s about the teams.”

Winning 4 Cup Series championships in his own time behind the wheel, Gordon has brought home to his team an equal amount of owner’s championships. Elliott, on the other hand, has brought one thus far. With the chairman hoping that he will pull another up to him, the #9 team goes with confidence and a 77-point deficit to the 0.526-mile track this Sunday. The track is one of Elliott’s best and was also his comeback destination earlier in the year. With a recent average finish of 7.7, the driver has 8 top-10s and 1 victory lane visit over his last 10 appearances.

In a striking coincidence, his situation is kind of similar to what he faced in 2020. Winning Martinsville in a required-win situation back in 2020, he proceeded to Phoenix and took his first Cup Series title. The impending question is, will he be able to do it again? Well, we will get an answer to that in a mere number of days.

Read More: Chase Elliott Left With Only One Improbable Resort To Save His Owners Championship Hopes After Unfavorable Homestead Outing