Chase Elliott reflects on this year’s championship chances
“Still really early,” Elliott told Dale Earnhardt Jr. when asked about the realistic chances of winning the title this season. While Elliott has been the only repeat winner this season after Tyler Reddick so far, he is the only HMS and Chevy driver to have won a race. This does not reflect dominance, but a tough struggle for both the team and the OEM.
He has put himself in a strong position. His consistent finishes and the two race wins now make him a contender for the title. But a strong one? Well, as he said, it’s too early to comment on that.
Chevy has been struggling against the dominating Toyota since the start of the season. Moreover, Hendrick Motorsports, which won the title last year with Kyle Larson, has been in a similar situation. Although the latter has been in winning contention at times, he missed out by small margins. But even these smallest of margins matter a lot to win the championship, especially under the Chase format.
“I think that if you’re not continuing to improve from where you sit today, you’re probably not going to be in a real good spot come, you know, September, October, November, when they’re going to hand out the big trophy. I think there are still areas that are deficient that we can go and extract more out of,” Elliott added, hinting towards the team’s potential issues.
The major issue with HMS is not something like a slow pit stop or incompetent crew, but the struggle that Chevy has faced so far this season. The OEM updated the ZL1 body with some tweaks to the overall aerodynamics. Apparently, it backfired, and Chevy lost competitiveness against Toyota. While they seem to be making the gains back, the incredibly tight field is making it ever harder for the likes of HMS drivers to actually win.
Despite this, Chase Elliott has managed to win two races so far this season. This is quite impressive, especially considering that he is the only Chevy driver in the top five of the Cup standings right now. This also paints a daunting picture for the HMS crew, considering Toyota is leading the field and the table.
Elliott reveals the background story of HMS’ improvement this season
Considering how the season started out for Hendrick Motorsports, they have managed to improve by a massive margin. The 2025 Cup champion, Kyler Larson, simply struggled to keep the car together and compete within the top. But after 11 rounds, he can be seen in the front of the field a lot more often; moreover, he was also in winning contention in multiple races.
As Chase Elliott hinted, this improvement wouldn’t have been possible if it weren’t for the background work that the drivers have been doing lately.
“We tested at (North) Wilkesboro earlier in the year, and then (Hendrick Motorsports teammate) Kyle (Larson) tested at Chicago last week, or maybe a couple of weeks ago. Nonetheless, in the last couple of weeks. I think all those things, you start putting pieces together and improving and getting to a good place,” Elliott revealed.
The data these tests reveal usually helps the teams to plan their strategies, racecraft, and setup accordingly, hence yielding a more competitive performance. Moreover, OEMs like Chevrolet can also rely on the data produced by a team like Hendrick Motorsports. While there has been some rumor of a new body coming in the future, the drivers will still have to continue with this in the upcoming races, so it’s extremely important to get used to it.
Kyle Larson, especially, has shown a strong improvement in performance as the season has progressed. He was battling in the midfield at the start of the season, and then finished the Kansas race in second place after an extremely consistent run.
Meanwhile, Chase Elliott has been slightly better since the start. In fact, he was very close to winning the season-opener at Daytona, and then went on to win at Martinsville and Texas. It is quite understandable why he is being considered for the championship win later this year, but there is still a lot that comes with it.
