On the surface, growing pains seemed to be in the cards for Chase Elliott.
Of course, this didn’t specifically pertain to anything physical. After being sidelined for six weeks following a snowboarding accident in early March, the five-time Most Popular Driver Award winner was more than ready to take on the bodily demands Martinsville Speedway required. Instead, these growing pains pertained to simply finding a good feel of the car after being away from it for six races. And after remaining static outside the top 20 for the majority of the race, finding that “feel” looked to be something that would take time.
However, the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet chipped away and translated a middle-of-the-pack start into a top-10 finish, with the 2020 Cup Series champion finishing 10th in his 2023 return.
Such resilience can only be a positive sign for the No. 9 moving forward.
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“It was warm, and I’ve been sitting on the couch for six weeks, so I think that probably hurt me more than anything,” Elliott said after the race. “Our NAPA Chevy, we struggled really bad, honestly, for the first … every run but the last one. So, we finally got it going there at the end, and I was able to make some passes and do things even I didn’t really think I was gonna be capable of doing, or at least of us fixing to that degree here at the race track. So, I was pleasantly surprised by that, and it got us a top 10 out of our first day back, so that was definitely nothing to be too bummed out about.”
A Saturday qualifying session that eventually saw Elliott start the race in 24th might have been the first sign of frustrations to come. And through the opening two stages, this seemed to be the case. Even as teammates William Byron and Kyle Larson found their way inside the top 10 to close Stages 1 and 2, respectively, Elliott remained entrenched outside the top 15 and even outside the top 20, with threats of being lapped possible as opposing long-run speeds inched closer and closer to his bumper.
But no matter. Instead of buckling, Elliott started finding. From timely passing, speed and even a touch of momentum from pit road, Elliott eventually found himself inside the top 15 with fewer than 50 laps to go, and even with Larson burning rubber after winning his second race of 2023, Elliott found a moral victory with a 10th-place finish, edging out another teammate in Alex Bowman by 0.266 seconds.
Moral might not equate to material, but in Elliott’s case, it may not matter. A shaky car through the opening and middle portions of the race certainly accounted for the growing pains, but it didn’t dictate the endgame for the No. 9 when it was all said and done. Resilience revealed itself, and such resilience could only gather more steam as the season continues.
“We definitely got better,” Elliott said. “Really, the only run I thought we were even decent was that last one, so that was nice to get there, somewhat. I thought we were in the ballpark, obviously, you’re just out of time. But it was really good to get in the top 10 there. That was something to be proud of.”
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Now behind the wheel for what should be the season’s duration, Elliott will look to keep the momentum high. And options certainly remain abundant for a driver needing a win to lock in any chance at postseason action.
There are 19 races remaining in the regular season, and all five of Elliott’s 2022 wins were at tracks still to come on the 2023 docket (Talladega Superspeedway, Pocono Raceway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway and Dover Motor Speedway). And for a road-course ace like Elliott, five road/street courses remaining also makes for possible winning scenarios.
With a six-week absence behind him, Elliott can now look toward finding ways to build off of this momentum. And while growing pains might yet remain on the table for Elliott as he continues his way back, perhaps finding that “feel” will be that much easier. A chance to continue with that “feel” will come at Talladega next Sunday (3 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
“Like I said, I am really proud,” Elliott said. “To get in the top 10, I thought was really nice for how bad we ran today, and for being out of the car for a month, I thought was pretty solid for me, you know, so I was pretty happy with that.”