Chase Elliott thinks his team is 'trending' in the right direction ahead of Atlanta

As the season continues to wind down to the playoffs, Chase Elliott is moving in the right direction but needs more. Elliott has said time and again, if he can’t win before the playoffs, he might as well not be in the postseason to begin with. Is Atlanta the place the NASCAR champion turns it around?

If you ask Chase Elliott, he seems to not be too worried. His Hendrick Motorsports team is working hard. So, how does Elliott feel about his chances?

Well, he, and his team, are improving at least.

“I feel like the good news is we’ve been trending in a good direction,: Elliott said, via NASCAR.com. “And I feel like the areas that I’ve struggled in, I’ve made a little progress over the last month or so. And we’ve had some solid runs at tracks that I was expecting to remind me more of our struggles last year.

“I feel like we’ve been executing races at a high level over the last month or so, which I think is a really, really good thing. And I think our team is in a really good place. We just need a little bit of pace. And I’ve been saying that over the last couple of weeks. But I think a lot of that falls on me to extract that pace to know in the early stages of the event or even in our short practice session to say, ‘hey, I need this and this to go better.’”

When it comes down to it, Chase Elliott takes full responsibility.

“I think all those things are on me and to make sure that I’m giving the information that needs to be given to help lead our team in a better direction in those crucial moments.”

Chase Elliott is on the brink of victory

In the last three NASCAR races, Chase Elliott has finishes of P5, P4, and P3. Does that mean we should expect a runner-up from Elliott this week before he goes on to win at New Hampshire? Not so fast, I’d say as the Quaker State 400 was arguably Elliott’s best race last season.

In a year where Elliott won five races, the most of any other driver in the Cup Series in 2022, the summer Atlanta race might have been the best. If we look back at this stretch of races last season, then it tells us a lot about what to expect from Elliott moving forward.

The summer was a great time for Elliott and his team. They were able to rack up three wins, four top-5s, and went into the playoffs with a full head of steam. However, things didn’t go great once they got into the playoffs. Yes, Elliott won at Talladega. However, he only scored one top-10 finish to close out the last five weeks of the season.

For me, it feels like Chase Elliott is running out of time. He could win before the end of the regular season, hell, he might win two races before the playoffs. Right now, even with his success in the last three weeks, I’m not too confident he can get that checkered flag in time.