Coming off his toughest season to date in the NASCAR Cup Series, Chase Elliott is focused on getting back to being one of the more competitive drivers week in and week out in 2024.
“The biggest thing is just getting competitive on a weekly basis,” Elliott told The Associated Press ahead of Sunday’s Daytona 500. “I want to win and want to put up big numbers like everyone does. But for me right now and our team, truthfully, the goal of mine is just being competitive on a weekly basis, just consistently be a contender. That’s all I’ve ever been after because I am a believer if you are a consistent contender each week, and if you are someone who shows up and has opportunities to win each week, you will get your share and be a car and driver that doesn’t surprise anyone with their results.”
Elliott, 28, went winless for the first time since his sophomore season in 2017, and finished a career-low 17th in the points standings. He missed out on the playoffs, notably missing six races earlier in the season after injuring his left leg in a snowboarding accident. Elliott did remain in the hunt upon his return, recording seven top 5s and 15 top 10s.
Chase Elliott chasing first Daytona 500 victory
He doesn’t blame the dip in performance due to the injury, but rather attributed it to the struggles from the end of the 2022 season carrying over into 2023. Elliott won five races that season but finished in the top-10 just once in the final five races of the season, finishing last in the four-driver title field.
“I certainly don’t blame the injury. I don’t think my knee had anything to do with our performance,” Elliott said. “It would be really easy for me to take that excuse but I just don’t think it is valid. I think the things we struggled with last year were the things we were struggling with at the end of ’22 and they rolled over into last season.”
Elliott’s path back to another championship begins at Daytona, in a race he has yet to conquer. In fact, no Hendrick Motorsports driver has won the Daytona 500 since Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2014. Elliott is hoping to change that this Sunday.
“It’s a big weekend for our sport,” Elliott told Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “It’s a good look for our company to go down there and fire off well. On the same token, I would rather have better results in the race than qualify well.
“There’s really no reason why we can’t do both. I think the qualifying side has been good, we just need to shape up the race side of it as well.”