Losing 7 Spots After Vegas Disaster, Chase Elliott on the Brink of Owners Championship Exit

The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season has not been one to remember for Chase Elliott at all. The Hendrick Motorsports star failed to qualify for the playoffs after missing a number of races at the start of the season due to injury. Elliott has not been the same ever since he came back as he has not won a single race so far this year. The driver of the #9 only has one shot to save his season and that is through the owner’s championship. However, things have not been going to plan for the driver of the 2020 Cup Series champion in that title race either.

The 27-year-old had a torrid time at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He crashed into the wall during practice and was forced to start the race from the back of the pack. Obviously, things were not as good as he had expected. The driver of the #9 could only finish in the lowly spot of P32. This well and truly crushed any hopes he had of making it to the final four for the owner’s championship in Phoenix.

Chase Elliott has a steep hill to climb, which seems unlikely

Chase Elliott found himself in a very good position after the Charlotte race. Before the points reset, HMS’ golden boy sat in second place on the owner’s championship table. However, the absolute disaster that was Las Vegas saw him pushed down all the way to eighth place. The driver of the #9 finds himself 77 points behind the leader as his hopes of a championship dwindle.

If he wants to have any chance of somehow making it through to the championship race in Phoenix, he must have two incredible weekends. Chase Elliott is a good racer who knows how to win races. This season might be an aberration in his career but he can still pull a rabbit out of a hat.

However, this is perhaps the most difficult part of the season for a driver to navigate. The next race will be at Homestead-Miami, a track where Chase Elliott has three top-10 finishes but zero victories. The race after that will be at Martinsville where NASCAR’s most popular driver has won before, but only once in 16 starts.

The Hendrick Motorsports star really does not have any other choice. He is 77 points off the top of the table and 61 points behind fourth place. Average finishes will not do him or Hendrick Motorsports any good at this point in time. 

Chase Elliott’s confidence was deflated in Vegas even before the race began. When the #9 car slammed into the wall during practice, its driver was neither happy nor very confident about his chances. Indeed, starting from the back of the grid does make it extremely difficult to make up positions.

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Hendrick Motorsports star deflated after Las Vegas crash

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After the incident in practice, the driver of #9 let his feelings be known to the public. Chase Elliott explained what happened on the track and went on to say that it was just the kind of season he had been having in 2023.

“Just cut a right rear tire I’m not sure. I had run 15 or so laps so maybe I ran too long. I’m not sure but yeah it was a bummer. I mean yeah, I knew it was a tire for sure. I couldn’t get stopped enough to keep it out of the wall unfortunately but kind of been that way all year,” Chase Elliott said.

It has been difficult for racing fans to see a driver like Chase Elliott struggle as much as he has this season. But one thing is for certain. He will come back next season with an immense hunger to prove himself to everybody.

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