NASCAR: The one thing Chase Elliott is still chasing
By Asher Fair
Already one of the most accomplished NASCAR Cup Series drivers of this era, reigning champion Chase Elliott finished in second place in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 to highlight one thing he has yet to add to his resume.
In what was Hendrick Motorsports’ third consecutive 1-2 finish, a streak that they had never previously achieved since they had entered the NASCAR Cup Series season back in 1984, Kyle Larson secured his second win of the 2021 season and the eighth of his career.
Larson won Sunday evening’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway ahead of teammate Chase Elliott in second place. Through the first 15 races of the 2021 season, Rick Hendrick’s team have now secured six victories, with Larson and Alex Bowman each winning twice and Elliott and William Byron each winning once.
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Byron led things off in February, winning the season’s third race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, before Larson led the season’s fourth race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Bowman won the season’s ninth race at Richmond Raceway.
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Bowman then led the team’s first ever 1-2-3-4 sweep in the season’s 13th race at Dover International Speedway before Elliott led a 1-2 finish ahead of Larson in the rain-shortened inaugural race at Circuit of the Americas prior to this past Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600.
Elliott is already tied for third on the all-time Hendrick Motorsports wins list, and Larson’s Coca-Cola 600 victory, his second for the team, made the team the winningest team in Cup Series history ahead of Petty Enterprises with their 269th triumph.
Elliott has 12 career victories, including at least three in each of the last three years entering 2021, and he capped off a career-high five-win season last year with a championship at Phoenix Raceway.
But one thing he has not yet managed to do through five-plus seasons as a full-time driver is win a crown jewel race.
In both this year’s Daytona 500 and Coca-Cola 600, he has had to settle for second place, giving him three runner-up finishes in crown jewel events.
He also finished in second place in last year’s Coca-Cola 600. He was well on his way to winning that race when a caution flag flew with just over two laps remaining as a result of a Byron spin. The #9 team made the decision to pit for new tires, dropping him to 11th before the overtime restart.
He was only able to climb his way back up to third place by the time the checkered flag few, though that third become second when second place finisher Jimmie Johnson was disqualified after his #48 Chevrolet failed post-race inspection.
So Elliott now has three second place finishes in the last four crown jewel races.
He does have a victory at the Charlotte Motor Speedway oval, but it didn’t come in the Coca-Cola 600, and he also has another second place finish at Daytona International Speedway in a non-Daytona 500 event. He has won at the road courses at both tracks as well.
The next crown jewel race on the schedule is the Cook Out Southern 500, which is scheduled to take place at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, September 5. NBC Sports Network is set to broadcast this race live beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET.
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Elliott nearly won this race last season before late contact with Martin Truex Jr. when battling for the lead. His career-high finish at the track “Too Tough To Tame” is fourth place, and his best finish in the Southern 500 is fifth. He likely would have won at the track last May as well before he was taken out by Kyle Busch.