Chase Elliott points to "that simple" approach in aims to secure a playoff berth and winning $1M

Chase Elliott shared his thoughts on how much he's eyeing to win the million-dollar prize in NASCAR's in-season tournament. The tournament, which would officially begin in Elliott's home race at Atlanta on June 28, would have a 32-team single-elimination format.

Ahead of the Cup race at Nashville last Sunday, the #9 driver was asked how much of an eye he's keeping on the in-season tournament while also keeping an eye on the playoffs.

Chase Elliott claimed that the points situation would ideally take care of itself if he simply executed at his job. He said, via Speedway Digest:

"That's kind of my approach to all those things. It just does not do you any good to worry about those things. Our expectations and our goals are to try and be amongst those teams that have opportunities to win regularly. You know, if you’re doing that, you’re going to get your turn.

"And if you’re not, then you won’t. It’s really that simple. I think that if your goals and your expectations are in a high enough place and where they should be, the stuff that goes on the side will sort itself out, and that’s kind of how I’ll view that, as well," Elliott described.

When asked if he faced anxiety because of not having a race or even a stage win this season, Chase Elliott stated that he didn't. Instead, the Dawsonville native said he set his mind to go out and get a win.

Elliott emphasized that those are his goals and the kind of things he wanted to achieve.

Chase Elliott speaks out on his interesting points situation despite being winless

Chase Elliott opened up on his playoff situation ahead of Nashville. Despite being winless in 2025, Elliott's results this season have been inside the top 20. Because of this, he sits in the 5th spot in points standings, only behind drivers who have wins to their names.

Ahead of the Cup race at Nashville last Sunday, Elliott was asked how he saw the situation of him being so high above the playoff cutline despite being winless.

"Certainly better to be in that position than on the other side of the fence, no doubt. But I’d be lying if I said that was my top focus. 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," Chase Elliott described.

Having said that, Elliott mentioned that there's still 'a lot of racing left' until the question of cutoff becomes more relevant. He claimed that if one wins, their problems are 'likely solved', but if not, the situation can get tricky.

Chase Elliott added that he's been in a situation like that before, due to which he doesn't want to find himself in a 'tough position' at the end of week 26 in the regular season.