2023 has not been the best season for the Golden Boy of Hendrick Motorsports, Chase Elliott. He is not in the playoffs for the driver’s championship. Also, this is the first time in the last seven years that he will not be contending for the Cup Series title. For a driver who has made three consecutive Championship 4 appearances and even won the 2020 title, it is indeed an enormous blow.
However, what separates a champion from the rest is their never-give-up mentality. Chase Elliot is now buckling up to fare well over the next ten weeks and get his boss his cherished owner’s championship trophy. But Elliott’s desperation derives its drive from two other things.
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While Chase Elliott is perhaps the most popular driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, it has its drawbacks as well. People expect a lot from you. And for Chase, the highest expectations come from his boss, Rick Hendrick. However, looking at his stats for the current season, Rick Hendrick might be somewhat disappointed with his star driver.
But the entire community knows Chase Elliott to be extremely selfless and team-oriented. He will definitely try to make up for his shortcomings. Yes, he missed seven valuable races. And yes, the narrative could have been different had he not been injured. But that does not change the fact that he has missed the most coveted championship run in NASCAR.
Hence, his enthusiasm for winning the owner’s championship for Mr. H is very high. On that note, veteran NASCAR ex-driver and NBC analyst Dale Jarrett explained why he thinks Chase Elliott is so desperate for the owner’s championship.
“The things that came to my mind are the pride and the money which these teams need,” said Jarrett.
According to him, the biggest challenge for Chase Elliott and his crew chief is to make their cars faster and become more competitive. For the past six weeks, the number 9 Chevrolet team had to try to figure out and manufacture ways to put themselves in a position to win a race.
“That’s not their style,” said Dale Jarrett. “I think this is a really good time for them to take away that hey we can make a difference in this and let’s see what we can do,” he added.
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Toward the end of their conversation, Jeff Burton explained why the owner’s championship was important for Hendrick Motorsports as a whole.
Burton said, “…that team just needs something to rally around. It needs some motivation so that you just don’t go through this year saying, man I just can’t wait for this year to be over.”
He felt this could be an opportunity for the team to regain their lost momentum and prove to themselves what they can do on the racetrack. “Off the Grid” co-host Kim Coon then pledged a question to Dale Jarrett that he was not quite comfortable answering.
Coon said, “He (Chase) has not seen the checkered flag once this season. So can they win over the course of the next 10 races. And if so, what track is best suited for them to finally get to victory lane this year?”
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Jarrett and Burton both laughed at the complexity of the question. Indeed, the unpredictability of stock car racing makes giving a clear-cut answer to that question quite difficult. Although the entire NASCAR community says that Chase Elliott is a driver who can win anywhere, he hasn’t yet shown his prowess anywhere this year.
However, Dale Jarrett thought hard and said, “Bristol’s a really good place. For the immediate success, that’s probably their first and foremost.”
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Considering his win in the 2020 NASCAR All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, perhaps Dale Jarrett deemed this half-mile short track the best for Chase to make his long-awaited breakthrough. Do you agree with the retired driver? Let us know in the comments below.
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