Chase Elliott to drive Hendrick Motorsports’ number 17 in NASCAR Xfinity Series at Pocono

Hendrick Motorsports recently announced Chase Elliott's return to the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Pocono Raceway on July 22. Elliott will be doing double duty during his visit to the famous tri-oval in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.

Chase Elliott will be driving the #17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet in Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 Xfinity race scheduled for Saturday evening at 5:30 PM on July 22. The 2014 Xfinity champion will make his return to the series for the first time since his last outing in 2021 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

The #17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy made its debut in the Xfinity Series in 2022. The team had four scheduled starts for the car this season, of which two have already been completed.

William Byron drove the #17 Chevy in the road course race at COTA to a second place finish. Kyle Larson made the second start at Sonoma Raceway and was third to take the checkered flag.

Kyle Larson in the NASCAR Xfinity Series DoorDash 250

Chase Elliott will drive the #17 Chevy on NASCAR's return to the 'Tricky Triangle'. The former Xfinity Champion has five wins, 34 top fives, and 66 top tens in his 82 starts in the series.

Elliott has made only one start at Pocono in Xfinity machinery, finishing as the runner-up when he drove the #23 Chevy for GMS Racing in 2018. He also won the Pocono 400 Cup race last year.

The #17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy has not managed a win in its seven starts but has finished inside the top five on six occasions. Chase Elliott will get two opportunities to win his first race of the year during NASCAR's visit to Pocono.

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Jeff Gordon outlines Chase Elliott's chances of qualifying for the playoffs

Hendrick Motorsports drivers Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman are currently outside the playoff scene after missing a few races. Elliott currently occupies the 23rd position 60 points adrift of the cutoff position. Teammate Bowman is one position ahead with a 44 points deficit.

Jeff Gordon, vice chairman at HMS, wants both of his drivers to win races to book their playoff position.

"I mean, I think Alex is closer than Chase is. I don’t know where that… I haven’t looked at the points after today, I know that we want to get wins. It’s sort of one of those situations where if you don’t feel like you’re capable of winning, how far are you really going to go in the playoffs?" Gordon said recently.

"For those guys, if they can get some momentum going here quickly or find a way to get to Victory Lane, then it’s all about picking up their game when the playoffs come around," he added.

Both drivers can still collect enough points to qualify for the playoffs but would run into trouble if 16 different winners emerge. Gordon wants both drivers to step up their game and win a race to maximize their chances.