Jeff Gordon, the Vice President of Hendrick Motorsports, recently shared his thoughts on Chase Elliott's prospects as the NASCAR playoffs approach. Gordon highlighted Elliott's status as an underdog, pointing to the #9 team's consistent performance and the upcoming race schedule. This season, Elliott has secured one win at Texas and has finished in the top 5 only six times. In contrast, his teammate Kyle Larson has notched four wins and matched Elliott’s top 5 finishes. Despite this, Elliott's consistency could give him an edge according to Gordon. Chase is currently ranked 7th.
“I think right now, if I just look at who’s the most solid championship-caliber team, I think it’s them because, okay, they might not have the laps led and the number of wins but they also don’t have the DNFs. They’re always in this third-to-seventh range almost every weekend and that’s strong." said Gordon via Hendrick Motorsports.
Another factor that favours Elliot as per Gordon is schedule.
“Again, I go back to the schedule. I think there’s a lot of good race tracks for them and I think a lot of people don’t realize that if you go look at owner and driver over the last few years, those guys have been there. Remember, last year he was out of it on the driver side because of injury but that team was in that top four. I think they’re a real championship-caliber team this year," said the VP of Hendrick Motorsports
The playoff schedule includes two road course races in the Round of 16 and Round of 12. Elliott excels on these tracks, ranking third all-time in road course victories with seven wins—just behind Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon, who leads with nine.
NASCAR Playoffs at Atlanta
The 2024 NASCAR season brings a significant change to the playoff format. Instead of starting with Darlington, which had been the tradition for the past four years, the playoffs will now kick off at Atlanta. Since its repaving, Atlanta has seen exciting, speedway-like racing similar to Daytona and Talladega. This season, Atlanta's race ended with a dramatic three-wide finish, won by Daniel Suarez. The unpredictability of Atlanta’s new setup could make the start of the playoffs particularly thrilling.
Chase Elliot shared his thoughts on Atlanta speedway.
“The first round definitely needs to be respected because it’s not a cakewalk by any means. That is what you get when you have these short rounds every year, we put another speedway in there and you are going to get craziness," said Chase
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