Is Chase Elliott in the driver’s seat for the regular season championship?
Chase Elliott won Monday’s (May 2) rain-delayed NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway. In doing so, he broke a 26-race winless streak and recorded his first win on an oval since winning the Cup Series championship at Phoenix Raceway in 2020. The win also extended his lead in the point standings, as he now holds a 50-point advantage over second place Ryan Blaney.
With the regular season nearing its halfway point and almost a full-race lead in the standings, Elliott looks poised to win his first regular season championship and the 15 playoff points that come along with it. However, there are months of racing to go, and there is still time for drivers to catch lightning in a bottle and go on a sustained hot streak.
Last year, Denny Hamlin had a 101-point lead in the regular season standings after the 13th race at Dover, the halfway point of the regular season. But the regular season finale at Daytona International Speedway that saw Kyle Larson claim the regular season crown after being fifth in points and 134 points behind Hamlin after race 13.
For Elliott, his biggest strength in 2022 has been his consistency. In a season where drivers have ranged from dominating one race to being a complete no-show in the next, Elliott has solidly been a top 10 car in almost every race, even if he isn’t contending for the win. Excluding the second race at Auto Club Speedway where he cut a tire while battling for the lead, Elliott’s worst finish so far in 2022 was a quiet 14th place run at Richmond Raceway.
Until other drivers can consistently start running and finishing inside the top 10, Elliott will remain the points leader for the foreseeable future. And now that he finally has a win under his belt, Elliott and the No. 9 team will have extra confidence heading into the next few weeks of racing.
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