Spotlight shifts to Chase Elliott following Nashville win

Hendrick Motorsport’s driver Chase Elliott became the fifth driver of the 2022 season with two victories following his win last weekend at Nashville Superspeedway. Now, the NASCAR Cup Series points standings leader, Elliott, holds a 30-point edge on Ross Chastain in second in the driver standings, as the spotlight shifts its focus on the series’ Most Popular driver and his quest for his second title.

Elliott’s win in Nashville gave him a much needed cushion between himself and Chastain as they battle it out for the Regular Season Championship and the coveted 15 Playoff points that come with it. Unlike in season’s past when one driver would accumulate a lot of Playoff points heading into the postseason, this year the five drivers with multiple wins are primarily grasping onto the lion’s share of the Playoff points – Elliott (13 Playoff pts.), Chastain (13), William Byron (13), Joey Logano (12) and Denny Hamlin (12) – making winning this season Regular Season title that much more important.

Fortunately for Chase Elliott, the NASCAR Cup Series is returning to a road course this weekend which is the type of track that nearly half (seven) of his 15 career Cup Series wins have come on; including last season’s race at Road America. Elliott has also grabbed road course wins at Watkins Glen (2018, 2019), Charlotte ROVAL (2019, 2020), Daytona Road Course (2020), and Circuit of The Americas (2021). Last season at Road America, Elliott started 34th and raced his way up to the win, leading 24 laps en route to the checkered flag.

This season, Elliott has put up two wins (Dover, Nashville), four top fives and 11 top 10s. He has led 513 laps and has held the points standings lead since assuming the position following Atlanta. If Elliott manages to hold on and win the NASCAR Cup Series Regular Season Championship, he will become the fifth different driver to accomplish the feat; joining Martin Truex Jr. (2017), Kyle Busch (2019, 2018), Kevin Harvick (2020) and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson (2021).

And if Elliott would go on to win the overall series championship in Phoenix in November, he would become just the 17th different driver all-time with multiple titles. He would also join Herb Thomas (1951, 1953), Tim Flock (1952, 1955), Buck Baker (1956, 1957), Joe Weatherly (1962, 1963), Ned Jarrett (1961, 1965), Terry Labonte (1984, 1996) and Kyle Busch (2015, 2019) as the eighth driver all-time with just two series championships.