Photo – Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
Chase Elliott took the NASCAR XFINITY (then Nationwide) Series by storm in 2014, winning three races en route to capturing the championship in his rookie campaign.
Elliott won his first race at Texas Motor Speedway and followed that up the following week with a victory at Darlington. After winning the standalone race at Chicagoland, the 18th event of the 2014 campaign, Elliott re-took the championship lead and never looked back on his way to winning the title.
Fast forward to 2015, and the story has been a bit different for the 19-year-old driver. Elliott has yet to visit victory lane in the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, nor has he led the championship standings after 23 of 33 races.
However, Elliott’s stats are still comparable to his 2014 championship effort through the season’s first 23 races:
The schedule for the month of August featured three road courses and two short-track races. While the top-three championship contenders all performed well over the five tough five race stretch, the battle is tighter now than it was before the month began.
Elliott’s performance on Saturday at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI., was indicative of the effort it will take to win back-to-back championships.
Elliott rolled off from the second position and took the lead in the first corner, driving away from the field. At one point, Elliott had a lead of over 11 seconds after the first round of pit stops cycled through and led a race-high 23 laps.
A common occurrence on road courses, Elliott slipped off track and made a trip through the grass, clogging the grille on his Chevrolet with debris. Elliott hit pit road to clear the debris, as well as take fuel and four fresh Goodyear tires, before returning to the track in the 19th position.
When the green flag waived for the last restart of the afternoon, Elliott was in the 11th position. Using his road-course experience, Elliott was able to gain seven positions in the closing laps to finish fourth.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed today. I feel like I really let this NAPA AUTO PARTS team down. We had a great car, and one that was capable of winning,” Elliott said after the Road America 180 Fired Up By Johnsonville.
“I just made way too many mistakes. It’s unacceptable, really. We can’t have that. We were fortunate to rally back and get a top five out of the day. We’ve been really close to winning one of these road races, and I really wanted to get the job done today.”
While Elliott’s disappointment with the finish is understandable, it’s exactly the kind of effort the JR Motorsports team showed on Saturday in Wisconsin that will lead them to their second consecutive title. Picking up those all important positions in the closing laps bumped Elliott to the second position in the standings, a mere 16 markers behind leader Chris Buescher with ten races remaining.
The XFINITY Series heads to Darlington Raceway this weekend, where Elliott is the defending winner while also competing in the Sprint Cup Series race. Extra cash will also be on the line, as Elliott is one of four competitors eligible for the $100,000 bonus in the fourth and last round of the XFINTY Series Dash 4 Cash program.
A victory this weekend would pad the teenager’s pocketbook and solidify himself as a championship favorite as the title battle heats up.