Chase Elliott shared his take on the current state of stock car racing in NASCAR. The Hendrick Motorsports driver claimed that a level playing field makes it ‘harder’ to stand out. The Next Gen package ushered in a new era of aerodynamic efficiency that left drivers unable to follow under dirty air. Consequently, short track racing has suffered the most due to the car’s inability to stay close. To make up for it, NASCAR continues to experiment with softer tires and a horsepower bump. Tracks that are less than 1. 5 miles will allow for 750hp, instead of the usual 670hp. However, Ryan Preece shared a rather sobering take on the 750HP package after the Bristol tire test. In an interview with Motorsport, Chase Elliott shed light on the issue, stating, “The more we’re the same, the harder it is to be different. Everyone at this level is really good at driving these cars. Most of the tracks we go to, there is a preferred lane, and when the track gets rubbered in over the second half of these races, it becomes really difficult to do something different than the guy ahead of you since he’s in the optimal line.” “And some of it, this is just motorsports in general, people getting smarter over the years, right, in terms of aerodynamics and how to tune these cars. Go back 20 years ago, and the sport was still finding out how some of these knobs and levers worked, and now we have,” he added. Chase Elliott finished the season eighth in the standings. He almost matched last season’s stats, notching up the same number of top-5s and top-10s. However, Elliott managed two race wins this season, making it his first multi-win season since 2022. NASCAR expert weighs in on Chase Elliott’s title chances NASCAR expert Brad Gillie recently shared that Chase Elliott’s title chances hinge on the playoff format changes. With NASCAR rumoured to do away with the single-race title decider, a larger sample size with a three or four-round finale is expected to be finalised. A full-season championship is also on the cards, and Gillie believes it may be Elliott’s best shot at the title. In line with his comments, Chase Elliott became the season leader after his win at Echopark Speedway. Even his teammate, Kyle Larson, didn’t expect the lead, as much of Elliott’s consistency flew under the radar for many. By that time, Eliott had finished among the top-10 more often than not. Moreover, he secured two consecutive top-5s leading up to the win. Overall, the Georgia native records an average finish of 12. 6.
https://www.sportskeeda.com/nascar/news-chase-elliott-raises-concerns-spec-racing-nascar-it-becomes-really-difficult-something-different
Chase Elliott raises concerns on spec racing in NASCAR: “It becomes really difficult to do something different”
