Chase Elliott ends offseason, enters Speedfest at Cordele Motor Speedway

The offseason is officially over for Chase Elliott. NASCAR‘s Most Popular Driver is returning to Speedfest at Cordele Motor Speedway. Fans can catch Elliott on January 17th and 18th at the Georgia short track.

Chase Elliott has a few short-track races that he likes to participate in every year. Cordele Motor Speedway can usually count on Elliott appearing at the track. He is once again back with Fr8 Racing.

We are finally getting to the warm-up for the 2025 NASCAR season. Drivers are picking up starting spots in grassroots and professional races all over. You have the Chili Bowl, Speedfest, the ARCA pre-race practice, Rolex 24, and then we’re pretty much at the Clash at Bowman Gray.

Will we see Chase Elliott pick up a win at Cordele to start his year off right? Last year the win at Texas was nice for No. 9 fans, but it still felt like something was missing.

Elliott sure seems serious about getting 2025 started off the right way.

Off season over, excited to be back behind the wheel. Let’s get it! 👊🏼 pic.twitter.com/yt1w7sgZM3

— Chase Elliott (@chaseelliott) January 8, 2025

If it wasn’t for the impressive seasons from William Byron the last two years, maybe the pressure wouldn’t feel so intense for Elliott. But right now, he’s third fiddle at Hendrick Motorsports.

Byron and Kyle Larson won the most races in 2023 and 2024, respectively. Elliott has one win in that time. Yes, he was injured in 2023. Still, results have to show up.

Will Chase Elliott find winning speed in 2025?

No matter how many consecutive finishes Chase Elliott had in a row during 2024, it didn’t feel like he was really doing a lot. Yes, he picked up points. He was in the regular season championship battle.

Then again, besides his win at Texas, did it ever feel like he was in contention for a win? I would argue, that even when he was in the top-5, the No. 9 car did not feel like a major threat to win. He doesn’t create the same inevitable feeling that Larson and Byron have the last two years.

Personally, I think a major part of Elliott’s downturn has to do with road courses. Prior to the Next Gen car, Elliott had seven wins going left and right. He has not won a road course since the new car was introduced. The cars have gotten closer and drivers have taken their road course skills to another level in recent years.

Now, there are many other things that have gone wrong or are missing from Chase Elliott and his team. It didn’t really matter what track it was in 2024, he didn’t feel like a dominant driver. He has been a dominant driver before, but is he able to recapture that?