“Oh, man, couldn’t feel any better,” Chase Elliott had said after crossing the finish line at Texas Motor Speedway in 2024, and ending his 42-race winless streak. It was a win that felt long overdue. After a tough, winless 2023 season, Elliott finally silenced critics by taking the checkered. However, it was not an easy win, with 16 cautions shaking up the field. Yet, the #9 managed to survive the madness, finishing ahead of Brad Keselowski and William Byron, solidifying his place in the playoffs. But as the 2025 season rolled around, he’s seemed to have hit a bit of a snag, which Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman, Jeff Gordon is having a hard time overlooking. But before we get to that…

Let’s look at why exactly is Elliott under the radar. For starters, in the first six races of the 2025 season, the HMS racer had led just 2 laps, as opposed to Byron’s 111, Larson’s 92, and Bowman’s 62. On top of that, Chase Elliott’s latest performance at Homestead-Miami Speedway was frustrating, to say the least. He finished a disappointing 18th, while his Hendrick Motorsports teammates Larson and Bowman were battling for the win. As Elliott was struggling to match the race leaders, he faced a penalty when he almost collided with Ryan Blaney in pit lane. Notably, this was Elliott’s back-to-back penalty in the last two races reflecting his struggling season.

Teammate Byron, fresh off his second straight Daytona 500 win, has been a constant threat on race day. Larson, who just won at Homestead-Miami, has been leading laps and contending for victories nearly every weekend. Meanwhile, Bowman has also been in the mix, coming close to winning at Homestead before a late mistake cost him the race. What’s more? Byron, Larson, and Bowman are also occupying the Top-3 spots in the Cup Series points standings, while Elliott sits at 6th—high for the world, but low if you look at HMS’ caliber. So, as expected, the HMS executives are definitely struggling to accept this unexpected reality…

After the race, Hendrick Motorsports’ vice president Jeff Gordon was asked about Elliott’s struggles. “Want to ask you about the #9 team. I know [Chase] had the penalty today. I think he had a penalty last week or so. They’ve had some some Top-10s [in the] last couple [of] weeks. I know Chase says, ‘Hey, didn’t feel like Phoenix and Las Vegas were as good of runs’. Where do you assess what this ninth team is going through? And where they’re at, at this point?”

Gordon first began with, “Similar to the #48. I feel like they came into the season with a lot of momentum from last year…and started strong…You can just see that they’ve got a lot of confidence…I think the last couple [of] weeks probably were a little bit frustrating for them…But they’re a really solid team, just a lot of depth and a lot of belief in one another. So you got to get through the rocky times and I think hopefully [they’ll get] some better tracks and better performances.” However, The former Cup series champion didn’t sugarcoat his assessment later, as he analyzed the No.9 team’s performance and compared it with the No. 5 team. While Gordon sympathized with the back-to-back penalties, he pointed out that Elliott is being compared with the best in the business. Overall, the message is clear. At Hendrick Motorsports, mediocrity isn’t acceptable.

“Again, it’s a high standard at Hendrick and what everybody brings, like the #5 team did today. A lot of times, you’re really measuring yourself against the best out there, and a lot of times, that’s right in your own stable. If you’re not achieving what you want to achieve, you know you’ve got to go to work, and you know you’re not meeting expectations,” Gordon told the media.

This is more disappointing because Chase Elliott has had a great turnaround in the 2024 season. After going winless in 2023, the 2020 Cup series champion made a blistering comeback in Texas. He doubled down on his success as he earned seven top-10 finishes in 10 playoff races. It would be fair to say that he was the most consistent driver in the Cup garage, with 10 top 5 finishes across the season. While he failed to qualify for the Championship 4 race, he was back competing for wins. And for Elliott’s fan base this momentum was seen as him turning the corner for good.

Instead, he has struggled to find consistency. He started the year with a win at the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium, but since then, penalties and bad luck have plagued his season. Up until last weekend, the 29-year-old has clinched just one top-five finish and two top-10s. Additionally, after going 109 races with just one speeding penalty, he has racked up two in the last five races this year. What’s most important, though, is Elliott himself also realizes that he’s falling short…

Ahead of the race at Homestead-Miami, the #9 driver honestly revealed, “The first three weeks, four weeks, you know, if you include The Clash, they were all really good. Had really fast cars and cars that did exactly what I wanted. And then, yeah, I mean we crashed the first three weeks of the season. So that was unfortunate, but yeah, you know, I’m certainly not going to sit here and tell you that Phoenix or Vegas were good because they weren’t.”

Top Comment by Sunni Thompson

I’m a diehard fan of Chase Elliot. I never waiver in support of him but…wth? He never closes...more

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“We just got to keep, you know, keep plugging away and try to find some, you know, try to find some good runs,” he further added.

Looks like the No. 9 team needs to regroup fast, or Elliott risks falling further behind. But for now, he has shifted his focus to the ongoing option tire debate, too.

Elliott weighs in on NASCAR’s tire debate!

Beyond his own struggles, Chase Elliott has also weighed in on one of NASCAR’s option tire debates. NASCAR has been tweaking its short-track package for years, but the results have been mixed. The Next Gen cars have made passing more difficult, leading to races where track position is more important than raw speed. To combat this, NASCAR and Goodyear have introduced a softer “option” tire.

It has been designed to wear out faster and create more strategy-based racing. Some drivers support the change, while others remain skeptical. The 2020 Cup series champion Elliott likes the changes. When asked about improvement in racing at short tracks the HMS driver gave a blunt yet honest response. “It seems like it’s better, for sure. And it seems like it’s large in part due to the tire. Maybe we’re onto something there,” he told the media.

His comments reflected the void in the NASCAR garage. When drivers like Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin outrightly deny any improvement, Elliott has taken a different stance. However, the final verdict will be out in a few days as the NASCAR caravan moves to Martinsville for the first short-track race of the 2025 season. While it tests NASCAR’s tire plans, it also serves as an opportunity for Elliott to make a comeback.