Chase Elliott secured two top-10 finishes at Michigan doubleheader, but admitted after the last race he felt his team had “squeaked by.” although it was a decent weekend for his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports team, Elliott said they had work to do.
Monday evening, Chase was asked if his team is struggling even though they have three straight top-nine finishes and are fifth in the point standings.
“Yeah,” he said. “I think we’re struggling a little bit for sure.”
Elliott’s results have been inconsistent. The Cup Series teams ran two races at Pocono in late June, followed by a July stretch of Indianapolis, Texas, and Kentucky. Of those five races, the 4th place finish in the second Pocono event was Chase Elliott only top-10 finish.
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However, Chase Elliott stated that, statistically, all of those venues have been poor to him over the years.
“Not as surprised to struggle at those places, but certainly I thought we’d do a little better at Kansas (12th) and thought we would be maybe a little better at Michigan,” he said. “I feel like our success came early there at Michigan; we had some really good runs there in my rookie year and then that second year. But since then, I feel like we’ve even struggled there.
“So, yes, I do (think we’re struggling).”
Since NASCAR returned to racing in May, Chase was one of the hottest drivers in both Xfinity and Cup series.
“We’re not performing as we should,” he continued. “Not performing as expected. Not performing to our full potential. Whether that’s me or whatever it is, I certainly expect more of all of us, myself included. So yes, I think we’re off.”
Elliott and other Chevy drivers will get a couple of wildcard opportunities at Daytona International Speedway this month, including the Aug. 29 Coke Zero Sugar 400.