Elliott goes from being the Chase-d to the Chaser after Texas mishap

After leading the points most of the season, he leaves Texas tied for 7th, just four points above the cutline heading to 'Dega next weekend

Before anyone started asking, “What’s up with those Goodyears?” in a NASCAR Cup Series race marred by tire issues and crashes, Chase Elliott had driven to the front of the field Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.

All was right with the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. At least to me, because Elliott was my pick to win the championship.

He’s wildly talented, drives for the powerful Hendrick Motorsports team, won the regular-season title and knows how to navigate the playoffs, having won the Cup championship in 2020.

Plus, his dad gave me a four-wheeler ride back to the garage area 30-some years ago during a race weekend at Evergreen Speedway in the Seattle area.

The younger Elliott took the lead early Sunday in Stage 2 and led 44 laps, but before I could brag, “His dad gave me a four-wheeler ride…” his race ended like so many others on this weird day. A tire problem apparently caused his Chevy to break loose in Turn 4 and plow into the SAFER Barrier, then skid to a stop in the infield as fire broke out under the damaged right front of the car.

Elliott coolly stepped from the car and walked away, but not without looking back at the burning No. 9. It’s like he was getting a mental picture of his title chances going up in flames.

Are Elliott’s playoff hopes really cooked after one race in the Round of 12?

He’s definitely got ground to make up in the two races before the championship contenders are trimmed to eight. But even though those races are at anything-can-happen tracks – Talladega on Oct. 2 and the Charlotte Roval on Oct. 9 – Elliott has a record of success at both venues.

He won at Talladega in 2019 and has six top-10 finishes in 13 Cup races there. On the Roval, he has won twice, plus a top-10, in four Cup races.

“It’s not a great position to be in for sure, but it is what it is now,” Elliott said. “I hate it for our No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet team. We were actually decent here for once, so that was nice while it lasted. We’ll go to Talladega, try to get a win and go on down the road.”

The mishaps on Sunday at Texas injected another level of intrigue into the playoffs, leaving drivers like Elliott and Christopher Bell looking up at those ahead of them in the standings. Many of the 16 caution flags waved because of crashes caused by tire problems.

That’s concerning.

But before you ask, “What’s up with those Goodyears?” and why is a tire such a factor in the playoffs, maybe it’s not the tire’s fault. And maybe it’s also not the fault of teams messing with air pressures and other settings that put undue stress on the tire.

I’m the last person to know why there have been so many tire problems. But one person I’ve spoken with – someone with significant experience on a Cup crew who knows others working in the sport who are frustrated by the current situation – believes the tire on the NextGen car, with its shorter sidewall, undergoes tremendous (perhaps unnecessary?) stress, especially on a 1 ½-mile track like Texas. It certainly seemed to play out that way Sunday.

Frankly, I fear for the race at Talladega. It’s the biggest, fastest track on the schedule with three-wide pack racing being the norm. It’s a race of bump-drafting and blocking and, unfortunately, a likelihood of massive crashes.

NASCAR has gotten away with little more than bruised egos amid the carnage lately at Talladega and Daytona. But there are a lot of desperate drivers going into this race, knowing they need to finish high or fall farther from playoff contention.

It’s not if there will be hard hits, but when. Drivers say they feel the impact of those hits in the NextGen car much more than previous generations.

So yeah, I’m beyond nervous about what may happen. It would be awesome to see a clean race decided by a four-wide photo finish.

And if Chase Elliott is one of the four, well, maybe fate owes him that.