RICHMOND, Va. – Just as Kyle Busch heading into the stands to celebrate with the fans Saturday night at Richmond Raceway was a rare occurrence, Chase Elliott smiling after a runner-up finish in the Toyota Owners 400 was arguably equally as rare.
Elliott, who in recent years has showed little but dejection in coming so close to a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win but not being able to seal the deal, climbed from his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Camaro under the lights and offered optimism that his Hendrick Motorsports team is headed in the right direction after enduring a slow start to the season.
The Dawsonville, Ga., native qualified second before fading during the middle portion of the race, but rallied back over a flurry of late restarts to notch his best finish of the year and best since a similar runner-up effort at ISM Raceway last November, when he was passed for the win by Matt Kenseth in the final laps.
This time Elliott was the one chasing the leader at the end, but admitted that just being back in the conversation for a victory was reason to be pleased.
“Circumstances were on our side tonight, which is not normal. So I’m happy about that,” Elliott said, carrying a ghost of a grin. ” … It wasn’t pretty for sure. We have a lot of work to do, I still feel like, to have the speed that we need and have the car like I want it to.
“However, it was still nice to be on the good side of things for the first time in a while. It felt good to be up there fighting for it.”
Elliott entered Saturday night’s race a season-worst 23rd in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series point standings, but catapulted up three spots to 20th by the end of the night and heads to Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway just 17 points outside the provisional playoff grid.
It’s nothing to write home about just yet, but Elliott recognizes there’s also still a long way to go.
“I think we’ve been getting better, for sure, over the course of the past handful of weeks. I thought last week was really probably our best effort as a company,” Elliott said. “I think we have to continue to be realistic with ourselves. We can’t look at the results tonight and think we’re right there, because in reality I think we still have some work to do.”
“I think this season has been a steady work in progress for us so far. We certainly have work to do and we know that,” noted Elliott. “… I think if we looked at the results, we would feel okay about things, but I think in reality we shouldn’t feel okay about it. We need to go back and really focus on getting better.”
Elliott’s Cup career is now starting to mirror that of his Hall of Fame father Bill’s. The senior Elliott finished second eight times before scoring his first premier series win at Riverside Int’l Raceway on Nov. 20, 1983.
After Saturday’s second-place finish, Chase Elliott has now finished second eight times in his own Cup career, albeit taking 22 less starts to accomplish the feat.
Heading into Talladega, Elliott hopes he can shake off his winless record and go to victory lane at the track where his father set the all-time NASCAR qualifying record and scored two wins.
At the end of the day though, it’s not just about Elliott wanting to earn a win for himself, but for everyone at Hendrick Motorsports who has believed in him from the start.
“I want to do well for all parties involved and not just for the sake of the sport,” Elliott said during the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour in January. “I want to do my thing, do the job that I think that I can do for my guys and my team, the job that they deserve.
“Mr. Hendrick put a lot of trust in me to do well. … I don’t feel like I have to this point – earn my place, earn my keep there at Hendrick Motorsports. I just want to do my part to win some races.”
