Photo Credit: Steven Muncie/OnPitRoad.com
Chase Elliott is coming up on the end of his second full season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. He is also coming up on two seasons without a win, which may be surprising to some. But what isn’t surprising is that he is currently 7th in the driver standings and 14th in the playoff standings. The Dawnsonville native is the highest ranked driver in the playoff standings without a win. So this brings up the question, Does Chase have a legitimate shot at the championship without a win? It is too early to tell, but with 13 top 10’s and six top 5’s this season, Chase and the No. 24 team have shown consistency. During yesterday’s media availability, Chase mentioned this consistency stating that “consistency is good for a race team”. But is consistency enough to get a win, or for that matter, a championship? The only time in recent history that a driver almost won it all without winning a race is Ryan Newman in 2014. Newman, in his first season with Richard Childress Racing, finished the season second in points without getting a win.
Chase currently has a 69 point cushion for making the playoffs, but only two more chances to get a win and lock himself in. The first is this Sunday’s race at Darlington Raceway. Looking at Elliott’s past at Darlington might give a clue to his future chances. When reflecting on his first race at the track called “Too Tough to Tame”, Chase stated “I guess it was beginners luck” referring to his 2014 Nationwide series win. “we had a great night here the first time but since then its gone pretty poorly here for me.” Chase’s performance at Darlington has been a mix of good and bad results. In 2015, he finished 24th in the Xfinity series race and 41st in the Cup series race. In last year’s Bojangles Southern 500, Chase had a 10th place finish, which added to his total of 17 top 10’s that season, finishing 10th in the final point standings.
While there is chance of getting to Homestead without a win, like Ryan Newman in 2014, it seems to be almost impossible. Chase had 17 top 10’s last year but his consistency fell off in the second round of the playoffs and he was eliminated. A win during the playoffs last season could have kept his chase for the championship alive during the second round. This season is no different, the saying “win and your in” hasn’t been more important for Chase Elliott’s hopes of a championship.
