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| Chase Elliott has top-5s in his last two races using the 750 HP package. |
“I feel like it’s kind of self-inflicted. Either you have a pressure-packed 10 weeks or you don’t based on if you are running good. If you are running good you can kind of cruise through. If you are struggling to get stage points, and you are right on the edge of getting three or four points every stage and finishing eighth to 15th, then you are going to have a pressure-packed first handful of weeks. It really is what you make it and the big thing is that I think we are quick to forget the first 26 weeks of the season and how we could have had multiple wins to make this next 10 weeks a lot easier like a lot of these guys have.”
ROUND OF 16: This weekend marks the second race of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs Round of 16. Chase Elliott currently sits sixth in the playoff standings, 30 points above the cut line. Last season in the 2018 playoffs, he earned the most points (89) at the final two races in the Round of 16 (Richmond Raceway and the Charlotte road course). Elliott's two wins in the last nine playoff races are tied for the most in that span.
SHORT-TRACK PERFORMANCE: Elliott has made 24 short-track (Bristol Motor Speedway, Martinsville Speedway and Richmond Raceway) starts in his NASCAR Cup Series career. In those starts, the 23-year-old driver has collected seven top-five finishes, 11 top-10 finishes and 425 laps led. So far in the 2019 campaign, he has accumulated an average finish of 8.25, which ranks as the fifth-highest average of active drivers. In 2019, Elliott has led 120 laps at short tracks – the sixth-most laps led at the track type this season.
LAST SIX: In the last six events of the season (Watkins Glen International, Michigan International Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway), Elliott is tied for the most top-10 finishes with five. He also has the highest average finish in the last six races (7.8). In the last two races alone, he has earned 67 points – the fifth-highest total.
NAPA AUTO PARTS: The primary blue, white and yellow NAPA AUTO PARTS paint scheme will grace the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 this weekend at Richmond. The Atlanta-based company will serve as majority sponsor for Elliott and the No. 9 team for a total of 26 NASCAR Cup Series races this year.
RICHMOND STATS: This weekend at Richmond, Elliott will make his ninth NASCAR Cup Series start at the 0.75-mile oval. In his previous eight starts, he has collected two top-five finishes – one being a runner-up result – and three top-10s. Additionally, he has made four starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Richmond, never finishing outside of the top five and collecting a win in 2015.
GUSTAFSON AT RICHMOND: No. 9 team crew chief Alan Gustafson is set to call his 29th NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond from atop the pit box this weekend. In Gustafson’s previous 28 starts with five different drivers (Kyle Busch, Casey Mears, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Elliott), he has accumulated 12 top-five finishes – five being runner-up results – 16 top-10s and 566 laps led at the track. The only crew chief with more second-place finishes at the 0.75-mile track is Dale Inman, who has 10.
PIT CREW PROWESS: Among the teams competing in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, the No. 9 pit crew leads the field. The team owns the best average time for four-tire stops at 14.134.
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