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Kevin Harvick has picked Chase Elliott as one of the four drivers who could face elimination in the Round of 12 after the Charlotte race. Harvick's pick surprised many, as Elliott has been a consistent performer throughout the 2024 season. However, the former NASCAR driver had his reasons.
After the conclusion of the Round of 16, where Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski, Ty Gibbs, and Harrison Burton were eliminated, it's time for the Round of 12, where three races will decide which eight drivers out of the remaining 12 will go through to the next round.
As of now, Austin Cindric (-4), Daniel Suarez (-6), Alex Bowman (-7), and Chase Briscoe (-7) have minus points and are under the playoff cutline. Elliott, on the other hand, is in seventh place with +6 points. Despite this, Harvick believes that the #9 driver might not make it to the next round.
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Alongside Elliott, the former NASCAR driver also put Briscoe, Bowman, and Suarez on his list. Here's what he said in the latest episode of the Happy Hour podcast:
"For me it's the 99, 24, 14 and the 9. You know I put the 9 in there. They did good at Bristol. You know I just think that you're gonna have to make some noise and you're gonna have to show that you're a contender, leading laps and running up front as you get closer to the Round of eight and round of four."
The 8-year-old also spoke about Elliott's teammate Kyle Larson's emphatic victory at Bristol.
"They've run okay [the 9 team] but they just haven't shown that speed that the 5 has to be able to do it. Bristol wound up being a pretty good day for them because they just, they hung out, and qualified well, and put themselves in a position to have a decent day to get through the first round," he added.
Surprisingly, Harvick kept Austin Cindric out of his list, considering how mighty Ford is around Kansas. Cindric qualified for the playoff after the World Wide Technology Raceway win at Illinois. However, he has failed to notch up another win since. On top of this, the #2 driver is also on the bubble because of his tally of -4 points.
How did Chase Elliott perform at Kansas, Talladega, and Charlotte during the regular season?
NASCAR is all set to host the three Round of 12 races at Kansas Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway in September and October. Here's how Chase Elliott performed on these tracks when NASCAR hosted regular-season races on them earlier this season.
The Hendrick Motorsports driver qualified for the Talladega race in ninth place and came home in 15th. He fetched 34 regular season points. At Kansas, he once again qualified in ninth, but this time he made a spectacular improvement to come home in third. He collected 35 regular season points this time.
Elliott qualified in fifth place at Charlotte and crossed the finish line in seventh. He took home 38 points on that occasion. The #9 driver has an average starting position of 7.66 on these three tracks and an average finish position of 8.33.
