Chase Elliott still not satisfied after career-best finish
On a night where Toyotas dominated the laps led, Chase Elliott continued to show why Rick Hendrick chose him to replace Jeff Gordon in the iconic No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
Elliott finished fifth in Saturday night's rain-delayed Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, his first career top five in 12 starts in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and his fourth top 10 in seven races this year.
As a result, Elliott moved up to 14th in points, which is just a single position behind where Gordon was at this time last year. Pretty impressive for a 20-year-old rookie.
No, Elliott didn't win. Kyle Busch did, as the Toyota armada led by Joe Gibbs Racing and Furniture Row Racing was out front for 320 of 334 laps. But Elliott continues to impress with his smoothness and consistency behind the wheel.
And like all good racers, he was looking for more, even after a strong performance.
"Yeah, it was a step in the right direction. We're definitely not satisfied running fifth," said Elliott. I feel like we have a group of guys that are capable of doing that. We'll keep digging at it."
Maybe it's because he grew up in a racing family watching his father, Bill Elliott, race, but Chase has a great perspective for a rookie in NASCAR's top series.
"We have a long way to go with a lot of racing to go in the season," he said. "We'll keep working to get where we can roll with those guys."
