Upon his return to the NASCAR Cup Series from injury in April, Chase Elliott made one thing clear — he was after wins, not points.
With four races remaining in the regular season, the 2020 champ’s opinion remains unchanged.
Elliott has spent the summer months steadily making up a points deficit on the playoff bubble, one built when he missed six races with a fractured tibia from a snowboarding accident in March. He missed an additional race in June after being suspended for what was deemed an intentional crashing of Denny Hamlin in the Coca-Cola 600.
Despite missing seven of the 22 races ran to date, the Georgian has quietly risen into playoff contention on points. With an 11.8 average finish in his 15 starts, Elliott has risen from 32nd to 20th in the standings, 40 points below the playoff cutline with four races left in the regular season.
Opinions over whether Elliott will make the playoffs on points have varied over the summer. Denny Hamlin stated on his Actions Detrimental podcast Monday that Elliott is going to close up the gap and make the Field of 16.
But even with the top 16 within reach, Elliott remains adamant that his No. 9 team needs to win, not just because a win would clinch their playoff spot, but because it takes that level of speed to maximize points.
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“My stance has been the same since I got back and I think we need to win,” Elliott said Saturday. “And like I’ve said 1000 times since I’ve been back, I think gaining a lot of points and contending for wins is very much one and the same.
“It’s not coincidence that the guys that are high up in points have race wins, but they’re also leading the regular season [championship] … Those two things go hand in hand. If you’re gaining a lot of points, you’re probably going to have a shot to win, and if you’re not, then you’re probably not going to have a shot to win.”
Elliott was the regular season champion in the Next Gen car’s first year, earning four wins during the stretch to easily clinch his playoff opportunity. He went on to make the Championship 4.
With two road courses left in the final four races, Elliott figures to be among the favorites for a playoff-altering win, but he isn’t placing emphasis on any of the remaining tracks in his quest for a postseason spot. He believes he can win anywhere.
“I don’t circle races; that’s just not how I operate,” he said. “I just take it week to week and try to try to get better.
“I just want to be a guy that can go and contend every week and be in the in the running wherever we go,” he added. “Whether it’s a half-mile, road course, two miles, [superspeedway]. You know, I don’t want to care where we’re going. That’s where I want to get and I’ll keep working really hard until we can achieve that.”