With Chase Elliott’s emotional victory in the Season Finale 500 (yes, I believe that’s what it was called in absence of a title sponsor for the race) at Phoenix, the 2020 NASCAR season came to a close.
While Chase Elliott was certainly the fan favourite, I can’t say he was, necessarily, the favourite to win the championship. That honour goes to Denny Hamlin, the winningest driver who made the Final Four and, prior to Martinsville, it was looking more and more like Kevin Harvick would win his second championship.
I don’t think Harvick’s departure from championship competition should, in any way, detract from Chase’s win and championship victory. He certainly had fast cars, something Chevrolet has been struggling with over the last few seasons.
(Oh, and by the way how cool is it going to be to see Hendrick and Childress teaming up to on a new engine program? I think 2021 may be the year that Chevrolet returns to prominence in the Cup Series.)
When it was announced that Chase would have to go from the pole to the rear, I was not as apprehensive as I might otherwise have been. I thought back to Jimmie Johnson’s final championship win in 2016. Johnson had to start from the back and still made it to the front. Plus there had been several races in 2021 where Chase had been faced with some adversity and been able to come from the back.
It’s become almost a cliche to say the winner dominated the race – and I don’t think it’s valid here. It didn’t take long for Chase to make it to the front. I think he was in the Top 10 by the end of the first Stage and was battling Keselowski for the Stage 2 win. The last round of pit stops, however, Chase came out behind Logano and had to play a bit of catch-up, but again it had been proven the driver of the #9 NAPA Chevrolet and the car under him had what it took to get back to the lead.
And Chase definitely earned this championship. As with every Cup championship since the installment of the new format in 2014, the champion had to win the race as well. This is, I believe, the first year, however, that all four championship contenders were in the Top 4 at the finish. You can argue that Harvick had the strongest season but I think having all four contenders finish 1st through 4th speaks to the strength of the four drivers who went to Phoenix to battle for a championship.
If there was anything I was worried about, it was having Chase leading by a good margin with a handful of laps to go. Both the Trucks and the XFINITY races had proven not only the likelihood of a late caution but the importance of pitting for tires under that caution. Neither Gander RV and Outdoor Trucks Series Champion Sheldon Creed nor XFINITY Champion Austin Cindric were leading with, say, five to ten laps to go. In each case, the championship picture looked very different with a late caution.
As it happens, no such caution came out and Chase was able to put some distance between himself and Brad Keselowski. (If anything, I am surprised it was Keselowski and not Logano who was the runner-up. I think the #2 Ford came on strong late and the #22 faded.)
I felt bad for Denny Hamlin. I won’t go into any conspiracy theory but I think he got screwed out of the 2019 Championship. I can say this is now the second year in a row that he had the fourth best car of those competing for a championship. I know Denny has been there on several occasions and just, for one reason or another, never been able to seal the deal on a championship. I think it’s fair to ask “How many years does he have left?” I think Denny still has at least a couple more opportunities. He’s a great driver in great equipment. If he can get JGR to focus on him for even a few months late in the season rather than a certain teammate, I think he can still snag that title.
If I being totally honest and open here, the most emotional moment of the race for me was after Chase had won and embraced his father, 1988 Winston Cup Champion Bill Elliott. The reason it hit home for me is because Bill Elliott is my own father’s all-time favourite driver and has become a huge fan of Chase to basically take it to the next generation. So for my Dad to be there to watch Bill and Chase celebrate, that was a pretty special moment for me.
Speaking of celebrations, Jimmie Johnson had a bit of an impromptu on-track celebration with Chase, and many saw that as a passing of the torch, both at Hendrick Motorsports and in NASCAR in general. Is it too early to consider the possibility that Chase ties Johnson, Earnhardt and Petty with seven championships?
Well…yes!
But I don’t think you can rule out the possibility that this is simply the first of several championships for Chase Elliott. He’s 24, with five full seasons under his belt, and he’s driving for Rick Hendrick Motorsports, which may not have the New York Yankees-type dominance it once had, especially with the struggles Chevrolet has had in recent years, but is still a force to be reckoned with on the track. One plus that Chase has is his proven ability to overcome adversity. Just for one example, as stated earlier, he had to start from the back at Phoenix and was in the top 10 by the end of the first stage, battled for the second stage win and ultimately won the race to win the championship. This is a driver that isn’t going to quit until the checkered flag waves.
This is not to say Chase will win six more championships in the next six years. Even with Johnson’s retirement, NASCAR does have a fairly deep roster of drivers who could contend for the championship, Harvick, Hamlin, Truex, Jr., Kyle Bush, Keselowski, Logano, Blaney and Kyle Larson, to say nothing of some of the 2020 rookie class who may be contenders in a few years.
However, I think there’s a bright and exciting future for our 2020 NASCAR Cup Champion Chase Elliott, and it was great to end a turbulent 2020 season with the sport’s most popular driver celebrating with a championship.
johnmilner.ca 