What does Chase Elliott need to secure a win and seal playoff spot? HMS Star weighs in

Despite being a consistent frontrunner, Chase Elliott has yet to return to enter victory lane this year. He believes he just needs to extract “a little more pace” out of his #9 Chevrolet Camaro to get the job done and secure one of the 16 playoff spots.

After 17 races, the Hendrick Motorsports ace has amassed five top-5s and nine top-10s, earning an average finish of 10.824. He has barely finished outside the top-20, while keeping his DNF count to zero. However, he hasn't won a race since Texas Motor Speedway in April last year.

Speaking about what he needs to get back to victory lane, Chase Elliott said (via Frontstretch on X):

“I think just have a little more pace, honestly. Just a little bit.” [0:16]

The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion may be coming short of a win, but he is proud of the progress of the #9 team, as he added:

“There's been so many pieces of the puzzle that I'm really proud of that I feel like we have... and just getting that last little bit. But I think the cool thing about where our team's at right now is I just think we're really solid. I think I can do a little better job for my team to just extract a little bit more pace.”

He also commended his crew chief, Alan Gustafson, for calling the shots amid criticism suggesting that the latter should be replaced.

“They're doing a great job over the wall. I think Alan's been calling great races,” Elliott shared. [1:00]

His next race is at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway) on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. ET. Thanks to his strong finishes in the last three races, the Dawsonville native secured the fifth seed for NASCAR's inaugural In-Season Challenge.

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“We haven't started trash-talking yet, but maybe Saturday”: Chase Elliott on fight against Austin Dillon in In-Season Challenge

In the first round of NASCAR's In-Season Challenge, Chase Elliott is competing against the 28th-seeded driver, Austin Dillon. $1 million may be on the line, but he hasn't started the mental games against his opponent, though that might change once the race gets the green flag on Saturday.

When asked about whether he has trash-talked the #3 Richard Childress Racing driver yet, Elliott said:

“No, not yet. Austin and I get along pretty good usually. I'm excited about it, though.”

“We haven't started trash-talking yet, but maybe Saturday. We'll see how it goes. But I'm looking forward to it. I think the fans will get into it as well,” he added.

The In-Season Challenge is a 32-driver, single-elimination tournament spanning five races. The champion will be rewarded with $1 million ahead of the playoffs. Out of the 36 full-time NASCAR Cup Series drivers, Shane van Gisbergen, Cole Custer, Riley Herbst, and Cody Ware are the ones who didn't qualify for the tournament.

If Chase Elliott wins the first round against Austin Dillon, he will either face John Hunter Nemechek or Josh Berry in the second round. Denny Hamlin is the top-seedee driver, followed by Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, and Christopher Bell.