Chase Elliott draws the importance of winning the regular season championship in playoffs battle

With four races left until the playoffs, Chase Elliott stressed upon the 'huge' advantage that comes with winning the regular season championship. The Hendrick Motorsports driver explained how it's 'easier' to have something to 'fall back on', especially when so many factors can impact the post-season outcome.

Elliott's consistency made him the points leader after his Atlanta win. Notably, Kyle Larson was shocked to learn that he slipped to third in the standings, despite winnning two more races than his HMS teammate.

The regular season champion enjoys a 15 point boost in their playoff standings, and the last time Elliott had the advantage was in 2022. At the time, his post-season suffered a major dip in results, but he still managed to make it to the championship four thanks to his playoff points.

As such, Elliott had this to say about grabbing the extra points(via Thesportsrush.com)

“They’d be huge for sure. I’ve been on both sides of the coin there. There have been years where I feel like we’ve not had many playoff points, and we’ve had a couple of years where we’ve had a bunch. I promise it is a lot easier when you have a lot in the bank."

"The way the system is, [with] so many things kind of being out of your control, it’s nice to have something to fall back on,” he added.

Chase Elliott is marginally ahead of William Byron with a four point lead. He recently secured his first pole of the season at Dover Motor Speedway and held the spot for a dominant 238 laps, but eventually succumbed to a pit stop miscue and placed sixth.

However, his six playoff points pales in comparison to Byron's 12 and Larson's 23. Up next, he heads to Iowa Speedway for 350 laps around the 0.875-mile short track. Fans can watch the race on Sunday, August 3rd at 3:30 PM ET. The event will be broadcast on USA, and can be streamed on HBO Max as well.

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Chase Elliott defends full-season points system

Chase Elliott recently weighed in on the ongoing debate of NASCAR's championship format. He backed the classic points system that crowned the driver with most points by season end, much like Formula 1.

“The system would be just fine if you just had a full season. And if somebody runs away with it, so what? Let's celebrate the fact that somebody ran away with it, that somebody was just that good. Motorsports does not have to be like everybody else to be successful. And I'll stand by that til I get done,” he said via X/Jeff Gluck.

Chase Elliott shared his thoughts on NASCAR's championship format. Source: X/Jeff Gluck

Chase Elliott's comments drew praise from Hall of Famer Mark Martin, who's been a vehement critic of the playoff system. Notably, NASCAR has setup a committee to modify the playoffs for 2026, but no definite plans have been reached yet.