Chase Elliott 2016 Review
By Richard Tix
Season Grade: A
Season Preview: "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)."
Season Review: Chase Elliott didn't make his way to victory lane in his rookie season, but he did just about everything else he could. He finished his Rookie of the Year season off with ease after ten top 5's and 17 top 10's, which are all impressive numbers for a rookie driver in the top series.
To put Chases accomplishments in perspective, let's take a peak at the rookie season's of Jeff Gordon and Kyle Larson, both of which are pretty close to Elliott's numbers.
Driver
|
Races
|
Win
|
T5
|
T10
|
P
|
Avg Fn
|
Chase Elliott
|
36
|
0
|
10
|
17
|
2
|
14.6
|
Jeff Gordon
|
30
|
0
|
7
|
11
|
1
|
17.7
|
Kyle Larson
|
36
|
0
|
8
|
17
|
1
|
14.2
|
To put it short, Chase Elliott had a pretty darn good rookie season. Not listed in stats are the countless tough luck breaks the team seemed to have and all the moments where Chase was too hard on himself. It's refreshing to see a driver take responsibility, but Elliott seemed to take the blame on himself too often for a rookie just getting settled into his Cup career.
Some past rookies at the premier series level have won more races and finished in the top 5 more often, but they do not always show the consistency week to week like Chase did. It was impressive to see him stay the course and stay consistent as such a young driver.
Chase showed in 2016 that he should be the cornerstone of Hendrick Motorsports, which is important since no one knows how long Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr will be around and that alone gives him a good grade on his inagural season.
Some past rookies at the premier series level have won more races and finished in the top 5 more often, but they do not always show the consistency week to week like Chase did. It was impressive to see him stay the course and stay consistent as such a young driver.
Chase showed in 2016 that he should be the cornerstone of Hendrick Motorsports, which is important since no one knows how long Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr will be around and that alone gives him a good grade on his inagural season.
