“I applaud them”: Chase Elliott praises NASCAR’s horsepower decision

Chase Elliott has lauded NASCAR's 'good effort' to increase horsepower for 2026. The Hendrick Motorsports driver argued that it's easy to downplay the decision until the concept is tested on track.

On October 8, NASCAR announced a horsepower bump to 750 on road courses and select tracks under 1.5 miles in length. The change marks an increase from the current baseline of 670.

Well ahead of the announcement, Brad Keselowski had hinted at the impending move, but thought it wasn't much of a meaningful difference. Dale Earnhardt Jr. sided with him and echoed the sentiment.

Reflecting upon the same, Elliott spoke to Frontstretch and said,

"I think it's a good effort for sure. And I think until we give that a go, who knows? You know, I think it's easy to sit here and say it's not enough or, you know, it's not this or it's not that, but it's something, right? It's something and they're trying. So I applaud them for, you know, for the effort and, you know, trying to keep the engine shops in mind." [7:06 onwards]

One among the selected tracks is Bowman Gray, the site of Chase Elliott's first win this season. The No.9 driver has notched up two more wins at Echopark Speedway and in the recent playoff race at Kansas Speedway.

The Kansas win earned him a spot on the Round of 8. The penultimate round begins at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and the HMS driver has rounded out the second row in qualifying. He starts behind the JGR trio of Christopher Bell, Chase Briscoe, and polesitter, Denny Hamlin.

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"I have enough going on my own": Chase Elliott comments on his rivals' points situation

The playoff race at Charlotte Roval witnessed a chaotic final lap that saw Ross Chastain getting held up by Denny Hamlin. The JGR driver was caught off guard by Chastain's desperate lunge on the final chicane which sent them both spinning.

Hamlin later revealed that it would've been helpful if he knew Chastain was fighting for the final transfer spot, for he would've steered clear of the No.1 driver in that case. However, his team decided to withold the information in fear of getting penalised for race manipulation.

Chase Elliott weighed in on the situation when asked if he'd like to informed as well.

"I'm not going to sit there and, you know, only pay attention to them. I have enough going on my own. So, to me, it's all about just trying to maximize the things that I can do, you know. You can worry about the situation too much," he said via aforementioned source. [3:00 onwards]

Chase Elliott had finished the playoff elimination race in eighth. He currently stands sixth in the playoff standings with 14 points below the cutline.