CONCORD, N.C. – Chase Elliott is ready for the challenge that awaits him.
After all, the third-year driver has made the playoffs in three consecutive seasons to start his NASCAR Cup Series career.
So, he has experience with what the postseason requires.
“It’s a tough 10 weeks,” he said. “We’re certainly ready for the fight.”
Last season, Elliott advanced all the way to the round of eight before narrowly being eliminated at ISM Raceway, where he finished second.
His 10-race 2017 playoff run featured seven top-10s, including six top-five results – four of which were runner-up finishes.
“We did a good job firing off in the playoffs last year, which I think is a good thing,” he said. “We just have to make sure we bring that fire again and get ready.”
This year, he enters the playoffs with 2,008 points, currently eighth in the standings.
He closed out the regular season with a 15th-place finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and he said step one for the No. 9 team will be to improve on that run.
“Just try to be better than we were today,” he said. “I felt like we had some solid runs going, we’ve just got to get back in that groove. This has been a tough racetrack for me since I’ve been coming here.”
With that in mind, he’s ready for the trip to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Though he was involved in a multiple-car incident there this season, he finished third at the venue in 2017, so he’s confident in what his team will bring to the racetrack as the playoffs commence.
“Looking forward to getting to Vegas – we’ve had some better runs there,” he said. “Just excited to get out there and kind of get the deal rolling and hope that we can get off to a good start and see where it all ends up. It’s a long 10 weeks.”