Kyle Petty dismisses Chase Elliott fan’s promotion of the HMS driver’s playoff statistic

Recently, a fan praised Chase Elliott's performance by pointing out that the #9 driver has the best average finish in the NASCAR Cup series. However, Kyle Petty quickly countered this praise, arguing that the #9's climb from the back to the top 10 at Kansas netted him just a few playoff points and little else.

After a challenging 2023 season, marked by seven missed races due to injury and a race suspension, Elliott won the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway earlier this year, to advance into the playoffs. Since then, he has managed to sustain a strong average finish, advancing to the Round of 12 based largely on points and consistent finishes. Pointing out the same, a fan claimed:

"@chaseelliott continues to have the best average finish in the NASCAR Cup series after improving to a 11.3 today."

When another fan brought the post to Kyle Petty's attention, asking if he had seen the post made by a fan about Elliott, Petty replied with a touch of sarcasm:

"That and $5.89 will get you a cup of coffee and +4 in the Playoffs… but not much more."

Chase Elliott faced engine issues during qualifying and practice at Kansas, which relegated him to start at the back in the 38th position. Despite this setback, he navigated through the field, finishing Stage 1 in 19th place and improving to 9th by the end of Stage 2. Elliott maintained his position to finish 9th, earning 30 points and securing his spot above the cutoff line in the Round of 12.

However, despite his efforts within the Hendrick Motorsports team, Elliott still finds himself in the last position.

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Chase Elliott reflects on his Kansas run

Discussing his performance at the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, Chase Elliott noted that his car had speed, but his qualifying position adversely affected his pit road selection, which he identified as the root of his difficulties. Speaking to NBC Sports, the #9 Hendrick Motorsports driver explained,

"We just had an uphill battle, it seemed like all day. I really thought our car was pretty good. We were able to move forward long ways I seemed like. Because we had a bad pit pick, ultimately it puts you in a bad position to lose spots on pit road. So, it seemed like we would get a bunch of spots and then lose a bunch of spots from from the pit road thing. We tried to claw back up, fall back up in the top-10. It was nice to atleast get that one."

Elliott is ready to compete next at Talladega in the Yellawood 500 race on Sunday, 6 October, at 2:00 PM ET. The race, which is the 31st of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series, will unfold over 188 laps on the 2.66-mile asphalt superspeedway.