Dale Jr. examines the 'uncomfortable' tension among Rick Hendrick drivers as Chase Elliott navigates sacrifices for Championship glory

The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion, Chase Elliott, is in a tricky situation in the 2024 playoffs. Dale Earnhardt Jr. opened up about the challenge the Hendrick Motorsport driver is facing during the latest Dale Jr. Download podcast.

One of the most popular drivers in NASCAR, Elliott had a rough start to the 2024 Cup Series season. However, he began delivering better results from the Toyota Owners 400 race at Richmond Raceway. Despite a slow start, Elliott sealed his place in the 2024 playoffs at Texas Motor Speedway by winning the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 race. So far, he has finished 17 and 10 times in the top 10 and top five, respectively.

However, with competition heating up in the Round of 8, Elliott finds himself in a dilemma. With two of his teammates, Kyle Larson and William Byron currently ahead of the Championship 4 cut-line, Elliott will have to find a way to enter the grand finale by outperforming one of his teammates. His challenge was shared by Earnhardt Jr.

"Imagine the tough spot that Chase Elliott's in right now. They don't really have the speed, and they're trying to claim a spot that right now, currently, his two teammates have two of those four spots, right? One of them's gone, Joey's got it. So for Chase to get into the Final Four, he's got to maybe take a spot away from a teammate," Earnhardt Jr. commented (0:00 onwards)

"I don't know if people really understand how uncomfortable and how difficult that position is. William's team and Larson's team, they gotta protect themselves. It gets quirky when the teammates are competing for the same thing," he added (0:18 onwards)

The aforementioned statement by Dale Jr. was shared on X by Dirty Mo Media. Here's a look at the post, captioned:

"If Chase Elliott wins, as it stands now, he has to knock a teammate out - NOT an easy spot to be in"

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"We are in a must-win situation" - Hendrick Motorsports Chase Elliott on do-or-die situation in the 2024 Cup Series playoffs

With Chase Elliott sitting at the bottom of the elimination bubble, he will look to maximize the race weekends at Miami and Martinsville. In an interview with senior journalist Claire B. Lang, the Hendrick Motorsports driver spoke about the #9 team's situation.

"Our point situation is what it is and we are in a must-win situation for the next two weeks. How we achieve that, if we’re able to go out there and win a race, I would prefer just to go be faster than everyone else and call a good race and execute a good day and that would be how I’d like to go about it," Chase Elliott explained (2:45 onwards).

Here's a look at the entire interview shared on X by Lang:

"So, @chaseelliott must win @HomesteadMiami or @MartinsvilleSwy to make playoffs. It's all the talk. But what does Chase think he has to do different in a "must win" playoff situation? How much actually changes? I sought an answer to that from Chase yesterday and he delivered"

Elliott is currently 53 points below the cut-off mark for the Championship 4. As per a report by NASCAR, he has a 10.17% chance of advancing to the playoff finale.