“Chase Elliott’s not winning”: Bubba Wallace’s spotter floats idea of HMS man not being a championship favorite

Despite Chase Elliott leading the Cup Series standings, Bubba Wallace's spotter Freddie Kraft has opined that the Hendrick Motorsports driver was not a favorite for the 2024 championship. Though the Georgian native is leading the charts, his playoff points are quite low compared to those of his rivals and might result in a setback when the Round of 16 roster is made.

The #9 Chevy driver has a subpar footing in the current season but his form improved from his seventh run at the Richmond Raceway, and the 29-year-old churned a win along with multiple top-5 and top-10s. However, to date, Elliott has only six playoff points to his name. He earned his first playoff point from the season-opener Daytona 500, followed by his win at the Texas Motor Speedway which got him his next five points.

Per NASCAR's rule, any driver sealing a stage win is awarded 1 Playoff point, while a race win will earn them five points. Moreover, the regular season is automatically granted an entry into the playoffs with a 15-point bonus. Thus, playoff points indicate how often a driver emerges as a stage or race winner and Elliott's six points highlight his inconsistent stage feat.

Though Chase Elliott recently overtook his teammate Kyle Larson after posting a third-place finish at the Iowa Speedway, his deficit of playoff points over his rivals has become a concerning point.

Kyle Larson is second in the Cup standings but has already collected 23 playoff points while Denny Hamlin, who sits in third place has 18 playoff points to his name. Even William Byron who's placed fourth has 16 playoff points.

As a result, Freddie Kraft and Brett Griffin discussed Chase Elliott is not a championship favorite this year.

"He's [Chase] obviously a legit. He's got the best average finish, he's running the best he has in a long time. But like if I ask you right now who your championship favorite was, it's not gonna be Chase Elliott, right?" Kraft said via Dirty Mo Media on X.

"He only has six playoff points, he will get 15 if he wins the regular season, but no it's not Chase Elliott," Brett Griffin concurred, revealing the dismaying playoff stat of the #9 HMS driver.

"He's leading the points. I don't know if it's just because you expect a lot outta Chase, he's expected to win more that's the biggest knock, he's not winning," Kraft added.

Chase Elliott achieves career-best feat after wrapping up a podium finish at Iowa Speedway

The 0.875-mile oval hosted the Cup Series race for the first time since entering NASCAR in 2009 with Truck Series racing. Ryan Blaney etched the race win, becoming the only Cup winner and the only driver to secure all three NASCAR series wins on that oval.

Chase Elliott kicked off his run from ninth place but soon found his way back into contention, finishing third. With that, the HMS driver wound up his 17th Cup race this season. Eight years since his debut in the Cup Series scene in 2016, the #9 Chevy driver has attained the best average finish from the first 17 races.

The 2020 Cup Series champion shattered his championship-winning year's record of 13.94, and his previous best of 11.59 in the 2019 season as, this year, he has clinched the career-best average finish of 9.12.

Nine races are yet to flag off before the Round of 16 gets decided and it will be interesting to see how Chase Elliott will scrounge for playoff points in the remainder of the regular season races as two of his teammates, Kyle Larson and William Byron, are already leading the charts.