Chase Elliott Admits Title Is ‘Certainly a Stretch’

Chase Elliott knows where he stands in the NASCAR Cup Series title fight. The Hendrick Motorsports driver is 185 points behind teammate Kyle Larson with four races left in the Chase.

Elliott talked about his chances on an episode of The Inside Lane, a motorsports show hosted by Devon Henry.

Henry asked Elliott whether he could still catch Larson.

“Obviously, you know, I think the championship is certainly a stretch at this point.”

“Obviously, you know, I think the championship is certainly a stretch at this point.”

Elliott is tied on points with Bubba Wallace. Wallace holds 11th on the tiebreaker, and Elliott is 12th. Larson leads Denny Hamlin by 49 points heading to Phoenix Raceway.

This year’s Chase has no elimination rounds. Points carry through all 10 races, and the driver with the most points after Homestead wins the title.

Elliott has two wins, six top-five finishes and 11 top-10s in 32 starts this season. Both of those wins came before the Chase, at Martinsville Speedway on March 29 and Texas Motor Speedway on May 3.

His postseason started slowly. He finished 14th at Darlington Raceway in the Chase opener.

A week later, his brakes failed while he was running seventh at World Wide Technology Raceway. He spun into Chase Briscoe, and both cars hit the wall. Elliott finished 31st, and Briscoe, another Chase driver, finished 32nd. MotorBiscuit covered the late brake failure that day.

He followed that with a 23rd-place finish at Bristol. His results have steadied since then. He finished eighth at Kansas, seventh at Las Vegas and 12th at Charlotte.

Elliott said his focus now is on winning races.

“Just try to go out and win four races and see where that puts you guys going home.”

“Just try to go out and win four races and see where that puts you guys going home.”

Elliott said one more trip to Victory Lane would be “a nice way to end the season.”

Elliott returns this weekend to Phoenix, where he clinched the 2020 Cup Series championship.

In the March race there, he started 26th and finished 23rd. Ryan Blaney won that race.

Larson has finished sixth or better in all six Chase races, with wins at Gateway and Kansas.

After Sunday’s race at Phoenix, the Chase moves to Talladega and Martinsville before the Nov. 8 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Martinsville race on Nov. 1 gives Elliott a return trip to the track where he won in March. MotorBiscuit has the full Phoenix schedule, including start times and TV channels.