NASCAR: Chase Elliott set a mark that can’t be topped in 2022
By Asher Fair
Chase Elliott has now won multiple races in each of the last five NASCAR Cup Series seasons, a mark that nobody can match in 2022.
After ending a 26-race win drought, the longest of his NASCAR Cup Series career since he became a race winner at Watkins Glen International in August 2018, at Dover Motor Speedway last month, Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott became the fifth driver to win twice this season by winning on Sunday night at Nashville Superspeedway.
The first driver to do so was Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, who won the races at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway.
Trackhouse Racing Team’s Ross Chastain, who entered the year without any wins, won the races at Circuit of the Americas and Talladega Superspeedway.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin won the races at Richmond Raceway and Charlotte Motor Speedway, and Team Penske’s Joey Logano won the races at Darlington Raceway and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
As a result of his second victory, Elliott has now won at least two races in each of the last five seasons.
That mark cannot be topped nor tied by anybody else in 2022, as Elliott was the only driver who entered the season having won multiple races in four consecutive seasons. He won three races in 2018, three more in 2019, five more en route to his 2020 championship, and two more in 2021.
Seven drivers won multiple races in 2021, but other than Elliott, only one of them also won multiple races in 2020.
That driver, Hamlin, won seven races in 2020 and two races in 2021. He also won six races in 2019, but he went winless for the first time in his career in 2018.
Hamlin’s first career Coca-Cola 600 victory back in late May made 2022 season his fourth consecutive season with multiple victories.
As for the 2022 season’s other three two-race winners, none won multiple races last year. While Chastain had no career wins entering 2022, Byron and Logano both won once in 2021.
Five drivers still have a chance to make the 2022 season their second straight season with multiple victories.
Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman won 10 races and four races in 2021, respectively. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch won four and two, respectively, and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney won three. Larson, Bowman, and Busch have each won one race this year.