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Chase Elliott: The Hunt for First Victory in 2017…and Career…Continues

By Asher Fair

Jun 4, 2017; Dover, DE, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Elliott (24) races during the AAA 400 Drive For Autism at Dover International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O'Haren-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 4, 2017; Dover, DE, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Elliott (24) races during the AAA 400 Drive For Autism at Dover International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O'Haren-USA TODAY Sports /
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The 2017 NASCAR Cup Series season is now 15 races into the 36-race campaign. However, even through 15 races, three of the top 5 drivers in the championship standings have yet to win a race. Chase Elliott is one of those three.

We’ll start off with an excerpt from a previous article:

"“In the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series season, 15 races have been completed, and 21 remain on the schedule. While the season is not yet halfway done, 15 races is still a pretty large sample size of races. That is, it is large enough to make the fact that three of the top 5 drivers in the championship standings have yet to win a race so far this season pretty astounding.The drivers in 1st and 2nd place in the championship standings, Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr., respectively, each have two victories so far this season. However, all 11 of the other victories have come from drivers currently 6th place or lower in the standings. None of the 15 races so far this season have been won by the drivers currently in 3rd, 4th or 5th place in the standings.”"

Of the three drivers in the top 5 in the standings without a win through 15 races thus far this season, Chase Elliott is the lowest. He is also the youngest at only age 21 and is in just his second full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series.

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After a solid rookie season in which he qualified for the playoffs and finished in 10th place in the championship standings, Elliott has backed it up with a great start to 2017. He has finished in the top 10 a total of nine times through 15 races so far this season, and six of those nine top 10 finishes came in a seven-race span. He is currently one of two drivers on a three-race streak of top 8 finishes, and his season-high finish of 2nd place at Michigan came during that currently active streak.

The hunt for his first victory of 2017 and first victory of his career could very well end for Chase Elliott in the near future. He has driven in 56 career Cup races and finished as high as 2nd place, which he has done three times, all at Michigan. As the replacement driver of the great Jeff Gordon in the #24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and also as the son of the great Bill Elliott, Chase Elliott is due to earn his first career Cup victory very, very soon.

Of the drivers in the top 5 in the standings with no wins so far this season, Elliott has the most pressure on him to win since he has never won a race before. However, he has really come on strong recently, so his chance of winning his first race of 2017 and of his NASCAR career is as high as it has ever been, if not higher.

Next: Three Of Top 5 Still Searching For First 2017 Victory

At which race do you think Chase Elliott will find Victory Lane for the first time in 2017 and in his Cup Series career? Be sure to follow me on Instagram as well as Beyond the Flag on both Instagram and Twitter. Also, don’t forget to follow along with Beyond the Flag for the latest news, opinions, and analysis stemming from a number of different motorsports series. You don’t want to miss any of it.

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