Chase Elliott is confident of must-win NASCAR playoffs at Martinsville

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Chase Elliott enters Sunday’s playoff race at Martinsville Speedway looking for victory and a spot in the Championship 4, a feat he’s confident he can accomplish.

“I think the last two weeks have probably been as good as we’ve had in this car, especially since the end of 2022,” he said on Saturday.

Elliott qualified second for Sunday’s race (2 p.m. ET on NBC). This is his best starting position since he won the pole in New Hampshire in late June.

Elliott enters the tournament 43 points below the cut line. Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick secured their spots in Championship 4 with victories in this round.

That leaves six riders vying for the final two spots in next week’s title race. Christopher Bell and William Byron occupy those spots, but Byron, who sits seven points above the cut line, said he feels he needs to win because he has competition behind him.

Below the cut line are Kyle Larson (-7 points), Denny Hamlin (-18), Ryan Blaney (-38) and Elliott.

Elliott is the only remaining playoff driver without multiple wins this season. His only victory came at Texas in April.

“Obviously we need to win more races and I think we know that,” crew chief Alan Gustafson said this week. “There may be opportunities we haven’t taken advantage of or risks we haven’t taken advantage of. … At the end of the day, what really matters is what happens this week and next week.”

Although the last two races in Las Vegas and Homestead did not involve the tight corners and short track of Martinsville, Elliott was encouraged by how his team performed.

He was running well in Las Vegas until his car was damaged in the Reddick incident. Elliott finished fifth at Homestead last week, just his second top-five finish since 2018, and led 81 laps.

“I’m looking forward to the weekend and just happy with where we are,” Elliott said. “Las Vegas was terrible. I mean terrible, terrible. Same thing with Homestead, actually about two years plus maybe three years in both of those places. So to go and have the speed that we’ve had the last couple of weeks, I think it’s great.

“I think even though we didn’t get the results we wanted, I think you should like it because, man, there have been some bad days at these tracks in particular over the last few years. So sticking together, continuing to work, putting in the effort and finding a way to improve where there were difficulties, I think those are the signs you want to see in a team.”

Elliott will look to repeat what he did in 2020 when he won the Round of 16 final at Martinsville to advance to the championship race, which he won the following week.

“When I look back on that year, that win was as big as the Phoenix win because without it you wouldn’t have had that chance,” Elliott said. “It was just a crazy week. You come here and your back is against the wall. It doesn’t mean you won Vegas, yeah, and you’re looking at Phoenix for two or three weeks. For us, we’re all looking at Homestead. Now all eyes are on Martinsville.

“I didn’t even think about Phoenix. It’s about getting the work done now. I think that by going through situations like this, I really have faith and trust in our process. If we can go and do work (Sunday), then you will go and start doing homework (Sunday) in the evening.

“You start preparing and preparing and that’s what we did. We had no choice. We were locked down in Martinsville. We were able to get the job done. And then when the checkered flag waved, we tried to enjoy the moment a little bit, but it was difficult knowing that in seven days you will be fighting for the championship.”