Chase Elliott can win the regular season title

Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott has been leading the Cup Series points since March. He’s on his way to the regular season title, and he could clinch it at Richmond Raceway.

Elliott currently has 847 points after the first 23 races of the Cup Series season. Penske’s Ryan Blaney, who currently holds the final transfer position, has a 119-point lead. The regular season title is still up in the air, but Elliott could clinch it with 58 points earned at Richmond Raceway.

Elliott has five races this season where he’s earned 50 points or more, so doing it as soon as a profit is possible. The second trip to Atlanta Motor Speedway was his best point of the day considering he started first and swept the first two stages, then beat Ross Chastain and Corey LaJoie for the win.

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Elliott shows strong at Richmond Raceway

GTChase Elliott practices at Richmond Raceway.

The Georgia native is not one of nine active drivers in the Cup series with at least one win at Richmond Raceway, a list that includes teammates in Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman. However, Elliott has previously given a solid performance on the short track.

Elliott made 13 starts at Richmond Raceway during his Cup Series career, finishing every race. He also has five top ten spots and four top five players, topped by runner-up behind Kyle Busch in 2018.

The recent trip to Richmond Raceway wasn’t the best statistically for Elliott and Team No. 9. They qualified for 15th and earned points during Stages 1 and 2. Although Elliott eventually finished 14th after struggling to pass through closing laps.

“In the spring, I really felt like we had a better car from where we finished,” Elliott said in a statement from Chevrolet. “The strategy hasn’t totally worked in our favour, so I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do when we get back this weekend. Passing is going to be tough again, so I really feel like qualifying and getting a good position in the ring is going to be important.”

Elliott breaks Toyota’s party in Last Expectations

The race at Richmond Raceway will provide Elliott the opportunity to win the first regular season title of his career, but he will face a difficult task in achieving that goal. Although forecast makers believe he will be one of the best during the race.

According to DraftKings, Elliott enters the weekend with odds of winning 9-1. He is the fifth overall and the first driver not to be a Toyota Racing member. Christopher Bell also has 9-1 odds while Bush sits at 7-1. Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex, Jr. have the best odds, 6-1.

If Elliott can win in Richmond, he would become the fifth Chevrolet driver since 2010 to win on the short track. Kevin Harvick won in 2011 for Richard Childress Racing, Kurt Busch won in 2015 for Stewart Haas Racing, Larson won in 2017 for Chip Ganassi Racing, and Bowman won in 2021 for Hendrick Motorsports.

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