NASCAR: How far did Chase Elliott drop in the standings?
By Asher Fair
Chase Elliott has only missed one NASCAR Cup Series race thus far, but he has already plummeted down the point standings.
Sunday afternoon’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway saw JR Motorsports Xfinity Series driver Josh Berry behind the wheel of the No. 9 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports instead of regular driver Chase Elliott.
Elliott, who suffered a fractured left tibia in a Colorado snowboarding accident on Friday, is also set to miss this coming Sunday afternoon’s race at Phoenix Raceway, as he is set to be out for “several weeks” with no timetable having been established on a potential return.
The 2020 champion and five-time Most Popular Driver Award winner had been coming off of a second place finish at Auto Club Speedway. After being taken out in someone else’s mess to open up the year in the Daytona 500, his runner-up finish vaulted him up to 14th place in the standings with 49 points.
But after just one missed race this early in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, Chase Elliott has already plummeted down to 24th place.
By the time he returns, last year’s regular season champion will probably be last among the 34 full-time drivers. The lowest ranked full-time driver is currently Spire Motorsports’ Ty Dillon, who has only scored 10 points. But his best result is currently a 31st place DNF, which will likely change in the near future.
Ahead of Dillon, Live Fast Motorsports’ B.J. McLeod, who isn’t actually a full-time driver, is the lowest among drivers who have competed in all three races so far this season with 25 points. Just ahead of him is 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, who has scored just 26. Trackhouse Racing Team’s Ross Chastain sits atop the standings with 129 points.
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Elliott will probably fall to around 30th place following this coming Sunday afternoon’s race at Phoenix Raceway, for which a replacement still hasn’t been announced. The United Rentals Work United 500 is set to be broadcast live on Fox beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don’t miss it!