Elliott’s Cup title was meant to be
Maybe we all should have seen Chase Elliott championship coming.
While many labeled the young star an underdog going into Sunday’s finale at Phoenix —and based on who the other three drivers were, he was — perhaps a bit of research would’ve done a world of good.
If you went back and looked at the 1988 sports calendar, Elliott’s win on Sunday was a foregone conclusion. That season, the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series, the Lakers won an NBA title, and Chase’s dad, Bill, won his only Cup championship. And yes, he did it while driving the No. 9 car.
Fast-forward to 2020 (who would want to do that?), and the Lakers were the last team standing in the NBA bubble, the Dodgerstook down the Rays for their first title in 32 years, and an Elliott won the NASCAR championship while piloting the No. 9 car.
What does all this mean? Throw the house at Chase Elliott Jr. winning the 2052 Cup Series championship. Thank me later.
First gear
this
Chase had to wait five long years to be crowned a NASCAR champion. That’s nothing compared to Crew Chief Alan Gustafson.
The Ormond Beach native has come so close so many times before, including a second-place finish with Mark Martin in 2009, and third-place finish in 2015 with Jeff Gordon.
After 16 years and 31 wins (four with a young Kyle Busch, fivewith Martin, 11 with Gordon and now11with Elliott), Gustafson is finally a champion.
“Ifs and buts, but we got the one that mattered,”a relieved Gustafson said after the race. “I was a little worried there when the 22 (Joey Logano) got in front of us on that pit exchange, but our car was good enough there at the end to get past him, so it was a really special day.”
Second gear
What in the world happened to Denny Hamlin? He certainly wasn’t bad, sitting anywhere between third and fifth formost of the day, but he didn’t lead a lap, and, quite frankly, never really threatened to.
After a seven-win season, Hamlin finished outside the top-10 in three of the last five races. If ever he was going to win a championship, it was going to be this year, right? The pressure will only build on Hamlin, who turns 40 next week.
Third gear
On the other hand, there is no more pressure on Jimmie Johnson, at least in a stock car. The seven-time champ ended his Cup career with a respectable fifthplace finish Sunday.
Sunday’s top-five was Johnson’s first since Dover in August, and best finish since an 11th place showing at Las Vegas in September.
Fourth gear
While we may never see Jimmie in a stock car again, we’ll see plenty of him at Daytona in 2021 ... maybe.
During his post-race presser, the boss himself, Rick Hendrick, may have let the cat out of the bag on Johnson, Elliott and next January’s Rolex 24 At Daytona.
“He’s excited about a lot of different racing,” Hendrick said of Johnson. “Both of our guys, Chase and Jimmie, will be in the 24-hour race, so I’m looking forward to that.”
Come again, Mr. H?
“Maybe I jumped the gun on that. I’m not 100 percent sure. I heard a rumor, OK, so I can’t confirm that,” he quickly added.
Whatever you say, boss-man!