NASCAR: Chase Elliott must win at Phoenix to advance to Championship 4
By Asher Fair
Chase Elliott is the only driver in a must-win situation at ISM Raceway to advance to the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Three of the four drivers below the Championship 4 cut line heading into the third and final race of the round of 8 of the four-round, 10-race 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs at ISM Raceway, the Bluegreen Vacations 500, are within 23 points of that cut line.
Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott, however, is not.
Elliott sits 78 points below the Championship 4 cut line entering this 312-lap race around the four-turn, 1.022-mile (1.645-kilometer) ISM Raceway oval in Avondale, Arizona after a disastrous start to the round of 8.
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The 23-year-old Dawsonville, Georgia native opened up the round just six points below the Championship 4 cut line. But a broken axle in the race at Martinsville resulted in him finishing in 36th place, dropping him an additional 38 points back to 44 points behind it.
Then at Texas Motor Speedway, Elliott hit the wall early. While his team got his car repaired, he could only salvage five points with a 32nd place finish, 22 laps off the lead lap. This dropped him an additional 34 points back to 78 points below the Championship 4 cut line.
Without winning, a maximum of only 55 points (35 for a second place finish, 10 for winning stage one and 10 for winning stage two) are on the table for each driver in each race; in fact, even with a win, a maximum of only 60 points are on the table for each driver in each race. But a win automatically advances a driver to the next round of the playoffs regardless of point total.
As a result, Elliott must win the Bluegreen Vacations 500 at ISM Raceway in order to advance to the Championship 4. Elliott has competed in seven races at ISM Raceway, and he has finished as high as second place. His average finish there is 10.14 and includes finishes of second, third, eighth, ninth, 12th, 14th and 23rd.
Elliott has never been to the Championship 4. He advanced to the round of 12 in the 2016 season, his rookie year, and has advanced to the round of 8 in each of the last three seasons.
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Can Chase Elliott win his way to what would be his first NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 appearance in the round of 8 finale at ISM Raceway? The Bluegreen Vacations 500 is set to be broadcast live on NBC beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET this Sunday, November 10.