NASCAR insider makes bold prediction about Chase Elliott at Martinsville

Chase Elliott’s dream of making it to the Championship 4 in 2024 comes down to this coming weekend’s race at Martinsville Speedway.

The sport’s most popular driver had a heck of a race in Virginia during this spring’s trip to the track, but he came up short as his teammate William Byron made it to Victory Lane. Now, the stakes are higher than ever, as all three Hendrick wheelman remaining are battling six drivers for two spots, and the pressure is on.

Elliott is in a precarious position compared to his teammates, needing a win while Kyle Larson and the aforementioned Byron have the chance to point their way into the Championship 4. After he came close to a win at Homestead-Miami Speedway, NASCAR insiders Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi explained how the No. 9 can crash the party at Phoenix on the latest episode of The Teardown.

“I have a weird feeling that Larson is going to do enough to be in position to make it on points. Like, he’s going to out point Byron, but somebody from below both of them is going to win. I almost think it’s going to be Chase Elliott,” Gluck predicted. “… I think he could win his way into the championship race and knock out both of his teammates in the process.”

While Gluck is borderline predicting an Elliott victory, Bianchi also wouldn’t be surprised, even though history hasn’t been kind to the No. 9 wheelman at Martinsville.

“The Chase Elliott thing is interesting because I’m looking at it, he finished third in the spring, but before that, he led a lot of laps here, but not a lot of great finishes,” Bianchi responded. “Today surprised me with Chase, because I did not expect him to be as good as he was for this race, but he was certainly in the mix, as well. Kind of backslid a little bit towards the end, but again, you can make a case for any of these guys at Martinsville. It would not surprise me at all to see Chase go there and to win.

“It’s going to really set up — I think it’s going to be a nice sequel to what we saw today, now that you’ve got these guys, all great at Martinsville, slugging it out. I’m excited for it.”

It’s time for Chase Elliott to push his chips into the center of the table and go all in at Martinsville Speedway. Time will tell if he’s able to get the job done, but his second win of 2024 can send him to Phoenix, where he’ll have a shot at his second Cup Series title.