Chase Elliott 2016 Preview
By Richard Tix
Normally the headline would be the Rookie of the Year battle between Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney (plus Buescher and Scott). However, Chase is filling big shoes in the same season as he will compete for the ROY award. After Jeff Gordon announced his retirement HMS also announced that Elliott would step into the #24's seat.
So, he will forever be linked with Jeff Gordon, which will always bring extra pressure. And all of this isn't even mentioning that he is the son of Awesome Bill from Dawsonville (Bill Elliott).
Boy, this should be a fun rookie season.
In 2014, Elliott got a 5 race head start to his rookie year in 2015 and had some promising moments. in those five races he had finishes of 16th, 18th, and 18th for three top 20's. His best race of the year might have been his second career Cup race, Richmond, where he ran 142 laps in the top 15 and finished 16th.
Bold Predictions/2016 Season Expectations:
- Anything less than a Rookie of the Year Award will be considered a disappointment for Elliott considering how much pressure might be on him. He is with a top tier team, he fills in for Jeff Gordon's retirement, and he will go head to head in a quality ROY class. I think he could surprise and be the first 2016 rookie to get a win this year (most likely the only one). 1 win, 4-5 top 5's, and 6-9 top 10's are all low numbers that he should be easily attainable (except maybe the trip to VL).
No comments:
Post a Comment