October 21, 2019 | By Lee Spencer

Chase Elliott is prepared to battle his way to Homestead

Chase Elliott entered Kansas Speedway believing nothing short of a win would advance the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports team to the Round of 8.

Fortunately--from his standpoint--he was wrong. A second-place finish for Elliott combined with a late fade by Brad Keselowski sealed both drivers’ fate. When the points were tallied, Elliott was three ahead of Keselowski in the race for the final berth in the next round.

“Luckily, we got a good bit of stage points in the first one and five more in the second one,” Elliott said. “To battle for the win, I was proud of that. We weren’t the best car by any stretch, but I did feel like we came here with the mind-set of having to win, and I'm proud of the fact that we came here and fought for a win.

“Obviously, three points is three positions, two points is two positions and one is one. That’s pretty simple. You’re just trying to get as many as you can get. In our position, I was under the impression that we had to win all the way up till the end of the race. At the end, a lot of good fortune for us and a lot of luck to be at the right place at the right time and great pit stop to put us in good position.”

Elliott started 14th on Sunday. He finished second in the first stage, led momentarily, and was fifth in the second stage to accumulate 14 points in the first two stages combined. Elliott pitted on Lap 215 and cycled out to eighth. He avoided the mayhem over the final 30 laps and with two late cautions, climbed from seventh to second over the last 20 circuits.

For the third-straight season, Elliott has a shot of transferring to the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“For us to come here and battle for a win shows what a really good team is made of and what you’re going to have to do if you ever make it to Homestead,” Elliott said. “Proud of the effort. Learned a lot. To be able to come out here and, like I said, in our minds have to win, come and fight for one, to finish second, I think is a step in the right direction for us. So excited to move on.

“A total team effort. Get to move on, get to reset the points, put those three wins that we had in the bank, use those points for the Round of 8. I’m glad we get to fight for another week, and now we get to go to Martinsville and fight these next three weeks.”

Elliott vaulted to sixth in the standings once the Playoff points were recalculated after Kansas Speedway. He trails current leader Kyle Busch by 22 points entering Martinsville Speedway—the first race in the Round of 8.

Over his last five starts at the half-mile paperclip, Elliott has upped his game considerably. He finished second to Keselowski in the spring and likely would have a five-race streak of top-10 finishes had Denny Hamlin not dumped Elliott in the closing laps of the 2017 First Data 500. Elliott had led 123 circuits throughout the race and was at the point on 498 before Hamlin sent him spinning. He finished 27th.

“I think for us, much like (Sunday), our best shot through this next round is to win,” Elliott said. “A win would be the greatest way to move on and assure you a spot at Homestead.”