CONCORD, N.C. – It took a dramatic, double-overtime finish to secure his place, but Chase Elliott is once again among the competitors racing in the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
“I’m glad we get to fight another week,” Elliott said, “and we can go to Martinsville and try to get a win one of these next three weeks.”
The driver piloted his No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to a runner-up finish last weekend at Kansas Speedway, earning enough points to advance to the next round.
The Round of 8 consists of trips to Martinsville Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway and ISM Raceway before four drivers will be eliminated and the Championship 4 will head to Homestead-Miami Speedway to race for a championship.
Elliott has earned three consecutive top-10 finishes at Martinsville, and he’ll look to continued that trend and start the round on a high note.
“Martinsville has been hit-or-miss for us,” the driver said. “We ran good there in the spring, ran bad there last fall. I feel like we have had really good runs there and bad runs there. I haven’t really done anything different; we just need to really do our homework this week and just really focus on it. I think we can run decent at Texas and I think we can run really strong at Phoenix, too.”
No matter the track, the No. 9 team’s sights are set on one goal: Victory Lane. He currently ranks sixth in the playoff standings, 22 points behind the leader.
“I think our best shot at the next round is to win,” the driver said, noting the number of wins the drivers ahead of him in the standings have secured. “With all of the wins they have, a win would be the greatest way to move on and assure you a spot a Homestead.”
As he aims to continue his quest for a title into the Championship 4, he’s grateful for the opportunity to keep that run alive for at least three more races.
“I’m happy we were able to get through,” he said. “These last two weeks for us, to go through all the stuff we did these past two weeks and still move on, it’s a wonder, for sure.”