Three more races. The Cup Series playoffs are on the horizon, and the battle for supremacy at the top of the driver standings is heating up. William Byron’s win at Iowa Speedway leapfrogged the No. 24 driver to the very top, while teammate Chase Elliott is breathing down his neck, just 18 points behind. With the stakes high, every point matters, which means the battle for the regular season championship will be pretty intense going into Watkins Glen, Richmond, and Daytona.
Despite just one win to his name, Chase Elliott has shown enough consistency this year to be in the mix for the regular season championship. But can he pull off some clutch results in the upcoming races to gain those valuable playoff points? Time will tell.
Chase Elliott’s crew chief wants to make the races count
Chase Elliott will have a point to prove at Watkins Glen. The road course is where he won his first Cup Series race, holding off hard-charging Martin Truex Jr. at the 2018 Go Bowling at The Glen. Going into this weekend, the 29-year-old will hope to repeat that performance, even though the likes of Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch will be competing as well. However, the No. 9 driver is no pushover at the 2.45-mile serpentine circuit, with an average finish of 10.6, the best among all active drivers with five or more starts.
Sharing his plans for the upcoming races, Chase Elliott’s crew chief, Alan Gustafson, said, “We obviously want to win the regular season, but more importantly than that, we want to win some races. I’m excited about Watkins Glen. It’s a great track for us, and I really enjoy road course racing in general, and I love racing up there, so we’re excited to get up there and compete for the win. Richmond is a race that, same thing, I like racing there. It’s a lot of fun. I’m excited to get there, and we’ve been working on some new things, so we would like to try to incorporate that at Richmond and try to win that race.”
Elliott is quite a force to be reckoned with at Richmond Raceway as well. With thirteen consecutive top-15 showings, including eight top 10s and six top fives, the racer will be one of the favorites going to the Cook Out 400. As for the regular-season finale at Daytona, Gustafson will take solace in the fact that the No. 24 Chevy has been looking lightning-fast lately, and the likely chaos of a drafting track could mean his driver is in with a chance. “Anything can happen at any race anymore, and Daytona has a lot of randomness to it, but I feel good that we should be in as good of a position to go there and win as anybody,” Gustafson said.
Several big races coming up for the @Hendrick9Team. Read more on the team’s mentality to close out the regular season. https://t.co/WDGi5njxZG
— Hendrick Motorsports (@TeamHendrick) August 7, 2025
With 15 playoff points up for grabs, it’s not just the bragging rights that drivers are fighting for. Momentum also goes a long way, especially when it comes to NASCAR’s ‘win and in’ format. It hasn’t been the most ideal season for Chase Elliott so far, with both Kyle Larson and William Byron securing more wins in 23 races. However, with 13 fixtures remaining, the Georgia-native has time to flip the script and potentially lift the Bill France Cup for the first time since 2020.
Elliott has his eyes on the prize
Alan Gustafson isn’t the only one setting his sights high ahead of the playoffs. Chase Elliott wants to finish the 26-race regular season on top of the standings, which will give him a significant advantage heading into the final 10 races of the season. In a sport defined by fine margins, getting those bonus points could make all the difference, especially when the No. 24 team has been struggling for wins all season.
When asked about potentially earning bonus points. Elliott replied, “They’d be huge for sure. I’ve been on both sides of the coin there. We’ve been (in) years where we have not had many playoff points, and I’ve had a couple of years where we’ve had a bunch. I promise, it is a lot easier when you have a lot in the bank. That’s a much better way to go about it. The way the system is, with so many things kind of being out of your control, it’s nice to have something to fall back on. So of course, yeah, we want it all.”
Lately, Chase Elliott has been pretty outspoken about the existing playoff structure, even though it helped him win the 2020 championship. The racer urged NASCAR to revert to the full-season format, saying, “The system would be just fine if you just had a full season (and no playoffs).” The 29-year-old has no qualms about one driver dominating the championship before the season finale, going as far as to say, “Let’s celebrate the fact that somebody ran away with it, that somebody was just that good.” Do you think Elliott will finish at the top of the standings at Daytona? Let us know in the comments!
The post Chase Elliott & Co. Eyes Regular Season Championship as NASCAR Playoff Race Intensifies appeared first on EssentiallySports.
