Chase Elliott and his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports team are eager for the challenge as Elliott has all but admitted he must win during the regular season in order to advance to the 2023 Cup Series playoffs.
Elliott, the most well-liked racer in motorsport, postponed 6 races after a snowboarding injury on March 3 resulted in a broken tibia in his left leg.
At Martinsville (Virginia) Speedway, where he made his comeback the previous weekend, he overcame a sluggish start to place tenth.
Although Elliott, 27, could theoretically still win one of the 16 playoff berths by points, it would be extremely challenging.
Elliott should have another opportunity to contend for the series championship if he wins one of the final 17 races in the regular season.
“I think we’re a deserving team to be a part of the playoffs and I think we’re a strong enough team to make a run and race for a championship,” Elliott said Wednesday in a Zoom call with reporters.
“We all want to win as a group, it’s not because of my absence that we want to win any more than we already did. But we certainly recognize points are probably aren’t going to work from the driver’s side – certainly we could points-in from the owner’s side – but from a driver’s side, it’s going to be tough to do without out a win.”
Elliott said he doesn’t anticipate any problems with competing in the upcoming weeks, other than continuing to work on regaining his strength in his left leg.
At Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on Sunday, Elliott has a great chance of earning his first victory of the 2023 series. He has two victories in his racing career at the track, one of which came in last October and enabled him to advance to the playoffs.
Elliott has also had success at the Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway, which was the site for the contest the following week. He has nine top-five finishes, two victories, and 12 starts at Dover, with the latest coming last spring.
Elliott claimed that neither he nor his team is afraid of the challenge they must overcome as they essentially restart their season.
“I think it’s more just recognizing the job at hand and what we’re going to have to do to be a part of the show. Having that goal set in front of you I think is kind of fun,” Elliott said. “It’s very simple and pretty straightforward what we have to go do.
“We’re really embracing it as a group and I’ve embraced it on my end. I’m excited about the challenge, really. It’s kind of unique and fun – you either win and you’re in or you don’t and you fail.
“I kind of like it.”
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Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports, IndyCar, Nascar, NASCAR Cup Series, Nascar 2023, Martinsville Speedway