In three career NASCAR Cup Series races at Michigan International Speedway, Chase Elliott has never finished anywhere but 2nd place. Can he finally earn his first career victory this weekend?
In 63 career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races, Chase Elliott has raced at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan three times. In those 63 career races, his career-high finish is 2nd place, which he has also pulled off three times.
All three of those 2nd place finishes have come in his three races Michigan, and he has never finished as high as 2nd place at any other track. Will Sunday’s race finally be the race at which Elliott gets the monkey off his back and wins his first career Cup Series race and finally finishes higher than 2nd place at Michigan?
If Elliott does end up winning his first career Cup Series race on Sunday at Michigan and finally finish somewhere other than 2nd place at Michigan, he will have to do it from 5th place on the starting grid, which should not be too big of a challenge over the course of a 400-mile race at a track like Michigan. In fact, that may be the least of his worries.
There’s this other guy named Kyle Larson who’s also pretty good at Michigan. In Elliott’s three Michigan races during which he finished 2nd, 2nd and 2nd, Larson has finished 3rd, 1st and 1st, respectively. If Elliott wants to take the checkered flag in front of the rest of the field for the first time in his career, he will have to beat the best.
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Elliott’s average finish at Michigan over his three career Cup Series races there is, obviously, 2nd place, which is also his highest and lowest finish at the track. While an average finish of 2nd place over the course of three races is super impressive, Larson’s average Michigan finish over those same three races is 1.67, and he has two wins ahead of Elliott as well.
While Larson is starting two rows behind Elliott in 9th place, starting position truly is only a number at Michigan. And while there are plenty of fast drivers in the field aside of Elliott and Larson, if Elliott can finish ahead of Larson on Sunday, his odds are pretty good at claiming that elusive first career Cup Series win. Can he get the job done?
Next: Larson and Elliott share one key strength
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