NASCAR Head 2 Head: Chase Elliott vs. Ryan Blaney

Elliott’s 2016 Summary

Out of the gates quickly

Elliott made his case for a strong 2016 by winning the pole position for the Daytona 500 back in February in his first full-time season in the Sprint Cup series.  He further heightened expectations by winning the season-opening Xfinity series race in Daytona the day before the 500. Unfortunately, his day ended early on race day, as he spun by himself off of turn four and did too much damage to the car, enduring a lengthy repair and therefore completing only 160 of the 200 laps, finishing 37th.

Not to be discouraged, Elliott then went on to solidly position himself as a legitimate Chase contender by earning Top-10 finishes in 11 of the next 14 races, capped by a season-high 2nd place finish at Michigan in June.  Following the June race at Michigan, Elliott was sixth in overall series points, and was 89 points above the Chase cutoff for those drivers without a win and needing to qualify on points.

Mid-season slump

The next eight races (Sonoma through Bristol) were ones that Chase would rather forget, as he went on a slump which saw him record a high finish of 13th at Watkins Glen.  Elliott was often involved in on-track incidents not of his making, but suffering damage to have him finishing far off the pace.  However, he did complete all of the laps at Sonoma, Indianapolis, Watkins Glen and Bristol – tracks which are challenging even to the sport’s elite.

In the most recent Sprint Cup series event at Michigan, Chase followed-up his strong June performance with another 2nd-place finish, perhaps an indication that he and his team have turned the corner.  A late-race restart probably cost him a shot at the win, although he was the dominant car for much of the later half of the event.

Back on track

Chase is now 27 points ahead of the Championship cutoff as the series heads to Darlington Raceway for the Bojangles Southern 500 on Sunday.

Next: Making The Case For Blaney