Elliott still trails NASCAR’s Big 3

KANSAS CITY, Kansas - Chase Elliott won two of the last three NASCAR Cup Series races, but none of that really matters now that he and seven other drivers are about to begin the next round in the playoffs.

With a win-and-advance format, Elliott won two weeks ago at Dover International Speedway, guaranteeing his advancement out of the Round of 12 and into the Round of 8, which starts Sunday at Martinsville Speedway. Aric Almirola won at Talladega Superspeedway in the second of three races in the round, and then Elliott won again Sunday at Kansas Speedway for his third career Cup Series win.

Hardly complacent, the momentum Elliott and his team are running with now doesn’t actually mean much going into Martinsville, and then Texas Motor Speedway and ISM Raceway in Phoenix as he competes for one of four spots in the championship race at HomesteadMiami Speedway. “Just because you ran good this week doesn’t mean next week is going to go good,” the No. 9 Chevrolet driver said Sunday.

Elliott was eliminated in the Round of 12 in his 2016 rookie season but survived to the Round of 8 the last two seasons this year because of winning rather than points.

“But momentum is nice; I’d rather have it than not have it,” he continued. “Still at a pretty big points deficit behind (Kyle Busch), (Kevin Harvick) and some of those other guys. If we just keep running with them every week, I think we’ll give ourselves a chance - that’s all you can ask for. We’re going to keep the hammer down and try to keep as much pressure as on we can and just see where it plays out.”

Even calling it a “pretty big” deficit is putting it mildly.

Busch and Harvick enter the final round before the championship race at the top of the playoff standings, respectively. Busch in the No. 18 Toyota is 40 points ahead of the new cutoff mark, and Harvick in the No. 4 Ford is 39 points ahead. To compare, defending Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. is +23 points, while Elliott is simply +3.

“The guys you have to beat in those situations are there every week,” Elliott said of the drivers he’s trailing, who have been dubbed the Big Three. “They don’t mess up. You better be in them and not mess up is kind of the goal. We’ll see where we end up.” Well, they rarely make mistakes. Winning Stage 2 and leading for 76 laps, Harvick looked like he was going to win Sunday, but a pit-road speeding penalty cost him the lead and allowed Elliott to take over.

Currently outside of the top four in the playoff standings, Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano and Kurt Busch are all three points below the cutoff, and Almirola is 12 points behind.

Harvick and Busch accumulated such a massive advantage in points during the regular season, winning seven races apiece.