Despite being in an enviable spot in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, Chase Elliott continues to ride a lengthy winless streak.
How long has it been since NASCAR’s perennial most popular driver went to Victory Lane in a points-paying race?
Try April 2024, at Texas Motor Speedway.
Speaking on Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway ahead of Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event, Elliott hinted that he largely shoulders the blame for his current drought — which stands at 40 races.
Chase Elliott Minces No Words About How He Believes He Can Improve
Although Chase Elliott opened 2025 with a win in the preseason exhibition race at Bowman-Gray Stadium, the victory didn’t technically put his drought on ice.
Now 13 races into the season, the Hendrick Motorsports driver remains mired in a losing streak. And he’s not happy about it — even though his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports team has enjoyed a recent performance uptick.
“I think it’s a product of a lot of hard work and just a collective effort of trying to make some improvement,” Elliott said on Saturday at Nashville. “That’s always the goal: just keep chipping away. I think the team’s in a really good spot. … I just need to continuously work on my craft and make sure that I’m doing my part.”
Elliott takes little solace in the fact that he’s fourth in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, best among those who’ve yet to win this year. As a result of being in such good position points-wise, the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champ is likely to qualify for the playoffs even if he doesn’t prevail in the regular season.
But the possibility of reaching the playoffs based on points is of no consolation to Elliott.
“I’d be lying if I said that was my top focus,” the second-generation driver said. “It’s just not. I think that if you’re worried about barely getting into the playoffs, I think you have some work to do. It really is kind of the best way I can think about that.
“And just to talk about my thought process, I want to be better than that. I want to be in the group of people of how many playoff points do you have, not just barely getting in. Our expectations and goals are above that, and we hope that we can achieve all of our goals.”
Driver Of No. 9 Chevy Isn’t Betting On Himself To Break Drought At Nashville
If history means anything, Nashville Superspeedway is one track where Chase Elliott is certainly capable of ending his drought.
Elliott triumphed at the 1.333-mile concrete oval in 2022 and followed that up with a fourth-place finish in Music City the next year. Elliott came home an unimpressive 18th at Nashville last season but has a history of success not just at Nashville, but at two other concrete race tracks: Dover and Bristol.
He’s less than convinced, however, that the concrete has played a role in his ability to excel at these venues. Instead, he attributes his strong runs to a combination of factors.
So, Elliott is greeting Sunday’s race at Nashville with only cautious optimism.
“For me, it’s never about, ‘Hey, you won here however many years ago, you should be good.’ It’s ‘What do I have going on right now? What is our team doing well right now? What do we need to improve on to be good here this weekend?’ That’s just because so much changes.
“I’m more of a ‘what’s going on lately’ type of person, and I just think the performance is really centered around that more than those historical practices and things that happened years ago.”
