Photo – Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Positioned last on the Chase Grid, a hefty 25 points below the cutoff line in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Chase Elliott needs a win in the worst way.
The problem: He’s never visited Victory Lane in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.
To advance in his quest for the championship, Elliott virtually must earn his first win in Sunday’s Hellmann’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway at 2 pm ET on NBCSN. The Sunoco Rookie of the Year frontrunner finished fifth from the pole at the 2.66-mile behemoth in his lone start there in May. Although Elliott hasn’t won a race, he’s shown he’s a contender every week and had near misses in both Michigan races and at Pocono in June.
“We will just need to go and race our hearts out and try to win,” Elliott said. “That’s about all we can do.”
In three career starts at restrictor-plate tracks, Elliott claims his fifth-place finish at Talladega, as well as results of 37th and 32nd at Daytona International Speedway. He did win the NASCAR XFINITY Series opener this season at Daytona.
Elliott does have a pedigree at Talladega. His father, NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, won there twice and holds the track records for poles (8) and qualifying speed (212.809 MPH).
“Talladega is always known for close finishes and I’m excited to get back,” Elliott said. “The racing there, you can’t really compare it to anything else. Talladega is a special place because it’s a historic race track for our sport. I remember watching a lot of races there. My dad still has that qualifying record and it’s obviously very impressive.”
Additionally, Elliott’s Hendrick Motorsports team is tied with Richard Childress Racing for the Talladega wins record with 12. He’ll likely get advice from teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr., who leads active drivers with six wins at the South Alabama track.
“The best place to be at Talladega, as everybody knows, is to try to be out front,” Elliott said. “That is hard to sustain for a long period of time in those races, but we’ve seen guys who have gotten good at it over the past few years. They make it happen and are able to control a race really well. I do think there is an art to it. There are obviously a lot of things you can’t control and running as close as we do there, that is a big factor, but I do think there is something that you can do better than others rather than just riding around and hoping for the best.”