NASCAR: Chase Elliott looks to end miserable drought at site of last solid finish

Chase Elliott is looking to end his miserable six-race cold streak at the track where he secured his most recent top 10 finish in the NASCAR Cup Series.

The NASCAR Cup Series is set to make its second visit to Pocono Raceway this Sunday, July 28 for the Gander RV 400, the 21st race on the 36-race 2019 schedule.

Pocono Raceway is the second of 13 tracks on the schedule to host two races. The first track to do so, Daytona International Speedway, hosted the season-opening Daytona 500 in mid-February as well as the Coke Zero Sugar 400 in early July. The first visit of the season to Pocono Raceway for the Pocono 400 took place in early June.

While the spotlight has been on Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch leading up to this race, as he has not won a race since he won at the track in early June and he is going for his third consecutive win and his fourth win in the last five races there, Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott is also looking to get back on the right track at the familiar venue.

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In early June, Elliott finished the 160-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Pocono Raceway oval in Long Pond, Pennsylvania in fourth place in his #9 Chevrolet.

This fourth place finish was Elliott’s third consecutive fourth place finish, and it was his fifth consecutive top five finish going back to his first victory of the season at Talladega Superspeedway.

During this five-race span, his average finish was by far a series-best 3.60, and he led laps in every race. He led a total of 280 laps during this span, the highest amount among all drivers. He was in the midst of truly taking that next step to become a legitimate perennial frontrunner, as evidenced by his ascension to third place in the championship standings behind only Busch and reigning champion Joey Logano of Team Penske.

But in the six races that have followed, he has led only seven laps and recorded a top finish of 11th place. His average finish is 24.50, and he has plummeted to eighth place in the championship standings.

While he is locked into the playoffs because of his victory and Talladega Superspeedway and would be a whopping 127 points ahead of the playoff cut line even had he not won this race, he needs to get back on the right track.

Pocono Raceway is the venue at which he can do it, and barring any issues out of his control, he should be able to.

As mentioned, he earned his most recent top 10 finish took place at this track on Sunday, June 2. Additionally, he has recorded five consecutive top 10 finishes there and six in seven starts.

Even with his 33rd place finish at the track in August of 2016, his average finish at the track in seven starts is 10.86, which is the second best among all drivers, trailing only that of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Erik Jones, which is 9.60 in five starts. In addition to his fourth place finish there earlier this season, he also finished in fourth in his debut at the track in June of 2016.

During Elliott’s six-race cold streak, many of the issues with which he has been faced have been out of his control. In fact, four of his poor results can be chalked up to these issues.

An engine failure at Sonoma Raceway robbed him of a top three finish, and an issue with the drill hose in the pits at Chicagoland Speedway cost him a shot at the victory, as he had worked his way back from two laps off the lead lap to get up to second place.

He was collected in what turned out to the race-ending “Big One” at Daytona International Speedway after running toward the front of the field and leading laps. Another mechanical issue at New Hampshire Motor Speedway mired him 11 laps down after he had a solid chance to finish in the top 10.

Will Chase Elliott get back on the right track at the site of his most recent top 10 finish and his most recent top five finish this Sunday, July 28? Tune in to NBC Sports Network’s live broadcast of the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series season’s 22nd race, the Gander RV 400, from Pocono Raceway at 3:00 p.m. ET.