LDN - Sports

Ingram: Elliott's popularity rises, but playoff chances dim

[November 03, 2017] By Jonathan Ingram, The Sports Xchange

Can Chase Elliott bounce back at the next NASCAR playoffs round in Texas?

After getting dumped by Denny Hamlin in the opening race of the Round of 8 at Martinsville while leading with three laps remaining, the second-generation driver needs a victory to advance.

The irony of the situation in Virginia was the final result. Kyle Busch won, advancing him to the championship finale, and Martin Truex, Jr. finished second. They are the favorites in this year's title chase due to their performance on 1.5-mile tracks like the Texas Motor Speedway, the scene of Sunday's race.

Five-time winner Busch is 27 shy of leading 2,000 laps this season, a benchmark that Truex has already passed in route to seven victories. The last time two drivers led more than 2,000 laps in the same season was in 1989, when championship winner Rusty Wallace and Dale Earnhardt, Sr. did it. It's an amazing statistic given that Busch and Truex are the only ones to have accomplished the feat during the last 28 seasons of the modern era of a shortened schedule, assuming Busch continues as expected.

Given the dominance of the two Toyota drivers and with no laps led in the spring race on the repaved oval in Ft. Worth, Elliott and his Hendrick Motorsports Chevy are not likely to pull off an upset.

"I liked Texas better before they paved it," Elliott said when asked about the return trip to the track. "We seemed to run better there before they did that. This past time we had a pretty good car, our teammate (Jimmie Johnson) won, so good things to look back to for that race when we go back."

The challenge on the 1.5-mile ovals for drivers of anything other than a Toyota is why the outcome in Martinsville was so crucial for Elliott. But there was an upside to the incident that likely knocked him out of the championship running. Fans liked the way the 21-year-old handled himself in the wake of brain fade by Hamlin, whose over exuberance drove Elliott's Chevy into the wall.

Still looking for his first career victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Elliott corralled Hamlin's Toyota on the cool-down lap by banging into it. That forced Hamlin to get out and face off with Elliott in the same Turn 3 where the incident occurred -- and in front of the entire grandstand, which erupted in cheers as Elliott emerged from his Chevy.

Fans always respond to displays of passion from the drivers outside of their cars. But instead of some insipid shoving or throwing a punch, which displays a loss of control, Elliott calmly but pointedly upbraided Hamlin for wrecking him.

"You wrecked me," he repeated in the absence of any apology from Hamlin, which only came later on Twitter.

The son of the 1988 NASCAR champion Bill Elliott, the sophomore driver has finished second six times since joining the Cup series for Hendrick Motorsports. Elliott's father finished second seven times before winning his first race in Riverside, Calif. in 1983, but didn't have to go through the agony of getting wrecked with the checkers in sight.

[to top of second column]

Beyond the runner-up finishes, there is a like father, like son element to Chase's career thus far. In 74 Cup starts, the younger Elliott has raced aggressively, cleanly and often enough at the front.

It's a recipe not only for victory but also popularity.

The same style helped sustain drivers like Richard Petty, Mark Martin, his father and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. as popular heroes. The younger Elliott's driving style is the main reason the post-race confrontation in Martinsville was his first. (He had the benefit of the slower pace of a short track when it came to cornering Hamlin's car on the back stretch without undue safety issues.)

It remains to be seen how Elliott's popularity fares going forward, although he certainly is ahead of the game after his father won the Most Popular Driver award 16 times. One could point to Truex as a driver who has raced cleanly, maintained his equilibrium after races and has now put together a remarkable seven-win season.

Truex personal life has been made difficult by the battle with cancer by his girlfriend Sherry Pollex, but he has maintained his winning ways and an even keel despite stressful losses. Yet, Truex's popularity is not necessarily trending. (The informal poll of Twitter followers makes it difficult to estimate a driver's popularity, because the online social network posts of athletes are often maintained by professional stand-ins, which can leverage their success).

Elliott's chances of winning in Texas are not only hampered by the pace of the Toyotas of Busch and Truex. The other drivers below or at the cut line also need to get a victory and look to have better prospects. Teammate Johnson is the defending winner. Ryan Blaney led 148 laps in the spring and fellow Ford driver Kevin Harvick's cars have come on strong recently on the 1.5-mile tracks. Harvick led 77 laps in the spring on the new pavement at Texas.

New archrival Hamlin, meanwhile, drives a Toyota Camry, this year's version of the new car that's pounding the other manufacturers into submission. In addition to better downforce, the Toyotas also have the horsepower to overcome the drag on the straights that comes with aerodynamics that help get a chassis through the corners faster.

Elliott has performed consistently well throughout the playoffs, better than seven-time champion Johnson. And, time is running out if he's going to get that first victory this year.

-----------------------------------------------

Back to top