NASCAR: 3 drivers who are probably pretty safe

Drivers who should be pretty safe: No. 3 – Chase Elliott

The reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion entered the 2021 season riding a two-race winning streak, including his Championship 4-clinching win at Martinsville Speedway in early November and his championship-clinching win at Phoenix Raceway the following week.

But Chase Elliott hasn’t won since, despite all the potential in the world for what could have been a four-race winning streak — five if you include his near-win in the Busch Clash leading up to the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

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He finished in second place in the Daytona 500 before dominating the race at the track’s road course, only to see things go down the drain, one after the other, after a controversial late caution flag period.

However, Elliott should still end up being pretty safe. The fact that he has led just 29 laps in his last eight races after leading a career-high 1,247 — more than double his previous career-high — en route to his championship last year may be of concern to some, but not him.

Hendrick Motorsports are as good as they have been in quite a few years; they have won three races so far this season. In fact, Elliott is the only driver competing for the team who hasn’t yet won this year.

How much longer will that last?

At worst, he and the team are building an even better notebook for this year’s run to the championship than they did last year. Their focus is on another deep playoff run — not simply getting to the playoffs.

Why? Because unless things go terribly wrong, that won’t be an issue. Let’s not forget one key detail: there are still five road courses remaining on the regular season schedule. Prior to the Daytona mishap, Elliott had won four road course races in a row.

The over/under on Elliott road course wins before the regular season ends is probably in the 2-3 range, and he will probably pull off at least one other win as well.

While these three non-winners, who combined to win 21 of last season’s 36 races, may be safe, there are several other drivers hovering around the playoff cut line who may not be. Will the 11th race of the season produce a 10th different winner? Tune in to Fox Sports 1 at 3:00 p.m. ET this afternoon for the live broadcast of the Buschy McBusch Race 400 from Kansas Speedway.