The case could be made that Chase Elliott is just ready for resolution when it comes to his NASCAR Cup Series playoff fate on Saturday night but he doesn’t view it that way.
“I don’t know that resolution is the right word but I’m ready for whatever tomorrow brings,” Elliott said.
Elliott says he was ready for this summer throughout the six weeks he was laid up on the couch recovering from the injuries he sustained during a March snowboarding incident. The 2020 Cup Series champion immediately took responsibility for the consequences of his actions and instead focused on the mission at hand.
“It’s my fault to begin with, so I’m not going to sit here and complain about it,” Elliott said. “It was a situation that I got us into back in March. From that point on, my objective was to hit it head-on, show up every week and do the best job I can to pull my weight with our team.
“What good would it do every week to focus on anything other than what we’re doing? It wouldn’t. So, I just try to keep my eyes focused on those items.
“Granted, we haven’t gone to Victory Lane to this point but I’m still proud of the work that we’ve put in and I think there’s better days ahead.”
So here we are, one last chance for Elliott to make the Cup Series playoffs and it can only happen with a trip to Victory Lane. He will start 23rd, for what little that is worth, and he doesn’t think it matters that much.
He is simply ready to do whatever is necessary. No anxiety. No nerves.
“Are these races the most fun thing in the world for us? No, probably not,” Elliott said. “But someone is going to win, get a sticker and five bonus points when we all leave this place … so yeah, I think we have as good a shot as anyone here tomorrow.”
He felt that way last week at Watkins Glen too but a subpar qualifying effort on his part and a miscalculation on fuel strategy by their team ran the No. 9 out of fuel in the middle stages of Sunday’s race.
And while he knows there is criticism out there about crew chief Alan Gustafson, Elliott dismisses them completely too.
“That’s not something he and I worry about,” Elliott said. “He doesn’t worry about social media and I don’t either.
“We have a lot of trust in each other and I think a lot of him. He is a great dude. He is a great crew chief. I don’t care what anyone thinks about that because I work with him and no one else does. So, it’s just really unfair for anyone to feel like they have a good hold on what our team sees and the things we talk about every week and the things we work on together.”
Elliott says he has ‘a decent idea’ of the ‘unfortunate error’ that ran him out of gas at Watkins Glen but that he doesn’t fully understand, nor does he need to, instead trusting fully in his crew chief and their engineering staff.
Make no mistake: Elliott very much wants to make the playoffs and compete for a second championship but he is already looking at making the most of whatever outcome presents itself.
“I think there are positives to be taken on both ends of the spectrum,” Elliott said. “If we get in, it’s a great opportunity to race for a championship. If we don’t there are things that can be improved upon, areas that maybe we wouldn’t have pushed in or tried if we were in the show, so I think there are things we can take from it regardless.
“We’re going to go out there and push really hard tomorrow. We still have an opportunity and it’s not over so that’s where my head is regardless.” Â
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.