NASCAR Cup Series: 4 drivers nobody wants to go up against at Homestead
By Asher Fair
Chase Elliott
No driver has come closer to reaching the Championship 4 in the last two seasons than Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott, who came close in both years. In fact, it was the driver discussed on the previous slide who singlehandedly kept him out of the 2017 Championship 4 at the age of only 21 in just his second full-time season in the Cup Series.
Should he finally take that next step from the round of 8 to the Championship 4 this season, which he appears to be more than capable of doing now that he has started winning on a regular basis following a 99-race win drought to open up his career, he will be a driver to look out for at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Elliott’s sample size at the track isn’t huge with him having only competed in three races there, but he has shown promise at the track in each of those three races.
His average finish is the second best among all active drivers at 7.67, and he has never finished lower than 11th place. That 11th place finish came in his rookie year, at which point he had been eliminated following the round of 12 several weeks beforehand.
Among active drivers who have not won at Homestead-Miami Speedway, it’s a toss-up between Kyle Larson and Elliott as to who is the best, so if Elliott manages to advance to the Championship 4 for the first time, he is poised to end up as a force to be reckoned with.