MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Chase Elliott will need to make Sunday memorable if he’s to reach the championship race for the first time since 2022.
He embraces the challenge.
“I’m super excited about it,” said Elliott, who must win Sunday’s Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway to advance to next weekend’s title race at Phoenix. “This weekend is just a lot of fun, really, from my perspective, whether we’re 10 points out, 30 points out, 150 points out. I don’t care. I’m looking forward to it.
“I think this is a good opportunity to keep things really simple for us. Go out and perform at as high a level as we can. Think we’re very capable, and I look forward to whatever (Sunday) brings.”
Elliott, who is 62 points from the cutline, starts eighth in Sunday’s race.
In 2020, Elliott was in a must-win situation at Martinsville and won to advance. He went on to claim the Cup title the following week in Phoenix.
Two of the four spots in next weekend’s title race are already set with Denny Hamlin (Las Vegas winner) and Chase Briscoe (Talladega winner). Christopher Bell (+37 points) and Kyle Larson (+36) are in the final two transfer spots.
Those below the cutline are William Byron (-36), reigning Cup champion Joey Logano (-38), Ryan Blaney (-47) and Elliott (-62).
William Byron is in a must-win situation to advance to next weekend’s championship race at Phoenix.
Byron, the regular season champion, will start on the pole at a track where he watched his first race as a youth and won the spring race at in 2022 and ’24. He and his team seek to return to the championship race for a third consecutive year.
The disappointment of being spun on the final lap last week at Talladega — and losing more than 20 points — is a distant memory for Byron’s crew chief, Rudy Fugle.
“The way we think about it is we’ve worked since January 2 non-stop just around the clock,” Fugle said this week. “Since the playoffs started I’m at least 80 hours a week with my engineers and these guys are doing close to that as well. How can you dwell and let something like what happened last week affect (this) week and your chance at a championship when you’ve worked the entire year?
“You can’t dwell on the bad things. You have to refocus and give it your full effort. It’s going to work out or it’s not, but if you worry about the old stuff, nothing good can happen.”
Kyle Larson holds the final transfer spot heading into Sunday’s Round of 8 finale on NBC and Peacock.
Larson, who starts third, is the third Hendrick driver trying to secure a spot in the title race. The last time Hendrick Motorsports did not have a car in the championship race was 2019.
“I would argue we are as strong or stronger now than we have ever been,” said Larson’s crew chief, Cliff Daniels. “It’s a very simple cliché statement but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. We’ve been through a lot of ups and down this year on the racing side and then just behind the scenes where a lot of that has shown us our own weaknesses.”
Chase Elliott and William Byron are below the cutline entering Sunday’s playoff race at Martinsville on NBC and Peacock.
While Larson and Bell have a large gap on those below the cutline, Bell doesn’t view it that way. If a driver below the cutline wins, then Bell will be racing Larson for the final transfer spot. Bell enters the race one point ahead of Larson.
“It’s going to be a battle,” Bell said of his duel with Larson. “We know basically whoever scores more points than each other is going to make it.”
Logano and Blaney, teammates at Team Penske, both are trying to win their way to the title race. Blaney has won the past two Martinsville playoff races but to do so again will be a challenge after he qualified 31st.
Logano will start fourth and seeks to advance to have a chance to win a fourth Cup crown.
“Every week (in the playoffs) is tough and the pressure ratchets up every week and it affects you, there’s no doubt,” Logano said. “I would assume it affects everyone. I don’t see how it doesn’t if you care enough about it. If you care, you’re going to be digging deep and trying to find that little bit more and what it’s going to take.”
Hamlin said the race for the final two transfer spots will be intense.
“The way it’s shaping up I’ve seen today in practice, I don’t think any one of these guys are safe,” he said. “I think it’s going to come down to the wire to see who wins this thing. We know that two are in, but I think everyone else is up for grabs. It’s going to be close.”
