CHASE ELLIOTT, HENDRICK DRIVERS TAKE STOCK OF…

Chase Elliott looks at
his performance during the playoffs — in which he didn’t qualify for the
championship as a driver — and doesn’t see it playing out much differently than
if he had run the seven races he missed during the year.

Elliott sees an end of the season where he had five top-10s in the first six
playoff races and believes that probably would have been close to the results
he would have had if he had not broken his leg early in the year or served a
one-race suspension for his egregious wreck ofDenny Hamlin
in May.

“If I had run those seven races, we likely would have made the Round of 8 [on
the drivers side] like we did on the owners side,” Elliott said the day before
the season finale at Phoenix. “I think that is a fair assessment. … But would
we just miraculously be winning five races if I had run the seven or however
many I missed?

“No. I don’t think that’s real. I don’t think that’s a realistic take.”

think that is a fair assessment. … But would we just miraculously be winning
five races if I had run the seven or however many I missed?

“No. I don’t think that’s real. I don’t think that’s a realistic take.”

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Elliott and the rest of the Hendrick Motorsports team could look at their
season through both optimistic and pessimistic lenses.

Kyle Larson finished
second in the standings, coming one spot short of the championship. But he led
1,127 laps and had 15 top-5s yet won “only” four races, five when you include
the all-star race.
William Byron
finished third in the standings but appeared to have the strongest car
initially in the championship race at Phoenix, where he led the first 92 laps.
He had a break-out year with six wins.
Elliott finished 17th in the standings — the highest he could after missing
the playoffs — but went winless with seven top-5 finishes and 15 top-10
finishes (he had 12 top-5s and 20 top-10s in a full 36-race 2022 season). The
No. 9 team overall finished 10th in the standings. Another frustrating item?
Elliott didn’t have a finish of better than 15th in the last four races.
Alex Bowman led the
Cup standings for three weeks early in the year and was ninth in the standings
when he broke his back in a sprint-car accident, an injury that forced him to
miss three races. He ended up missing the playoffs and finished 20th in points.
The team also finished 20th in the owner points.