Chase Elliott's thought process isn't changing amid winless season

An injury and a suspension disrupted the first half of Chase Elliott’s season and dropped him far below the playoff cutline. Yet he is not panicking.

Six races remain in the regular season. Elliott is 60 points below the cutline. This is not a recipe for success, but it doesn’t change his mindset heading into Pocono.

“My thought process since all this has happened is that we are going to have to win,” Elliott said during a Friday press conference.

“That is kind of what everybody was saying until we had a few good weeks of points and then everybody was like ‘Oh, he can point his way in.' So, the storylines can change pretty fast.”

This mindset is one that Elliott shares with Hendrick Motorsports vice chairman Jeff Gordon. Making the playoffs on points is acceptable, but the goal is to win races and truly contend for a championship.

The Hall of Famer explained this during a July 14 appearance on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio: “We know what challenges that they’ve had to get themselves behind, and they’ve been fighting hard to get back into it and get themselves in the playoffs.

“But at the same time, you want to do it by winning, and you want to do it in a way that when you make it into the playoffs, you’re going to go deep in the playoffs.”

Winning is the goal, but work remains. The No. 9 team has to run consistently inside of the top 10 in order to take that next step. This is something that has eluded it since Elliott's return from a fractured tibia in April.

Compare the first 20 races last season with the current campaign. Elliott had three wins and top-10 finishes in 70% of his starts. He then won at Pocono in his 21st start.

This year, Elliott has made 13 starts. He has yet to win, and he only has top-10 finishes in 53.8% of his starts.

Now look at qualifying — Elliott had an average starting position of 10.7 last season with three pole wins.

This year, his average starting position is 18.7 through 13 races. This number will only change after Pocono as Elliott spun during qualifying. He will start 35th after failing to complete a lap.

Despite the stop-and-start nature of the season and the struggles, Elliott has indicated that he has actually enjoyed part of the experience. Fighting for points and consistency has provided a little bit of a throwback feel, and he has had "fun" trying to change some of the narratives.

“In those situations like in years past — like last year when we had a good year — We had a lot of playoff points going into the postseason, and I am glad we did because that got us to Phoenix," Elliott said.

“But in years that we didn’t, it was about that you had to show up every week and really get it in those last 10 (weeks) if you wanted to advance, and that is really kind of how it feels now.”

Pocono is the next opportunity for Elliott and the No. 9 team. This track is one where Elliott has been consistent overall. He has eight top-10 finishes and four top-fives in 13 career starts. He also inherited the win last year after originally finishing third behind the disqualified Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch.

Elliott has performed well at Pocono Raceway in his career. He still isn’t particularly confident in his ability to contend for the win. This weekend will be more about putting himself near the front of the pack for the final restart so that he can keep “chipping away” after the recent stretch of races.

Sonoma, Nashville and Chicago were solid outings for Elliott. He finished fifth, fourth and third. Atlanta and New Hampshire ended with Elliott outside of the top 10.

Elliott fell a lap down at New Hampshire after struggling with handling early, but he was able to take advantage of back-to-back cautions and the wave around. He salvaged his day and avoided losing points. He just didn’t gain any.

Elliott has experienced the ups and downs of Cup racing this season. He has celebrated solid performances and faced adversity. He has taken on each moment while ignoring distractions. All that is left is for him to take care of business in the remaining regular-season races.

“It’s just riding the wave,” Elliott said. “It’s like my dad has said over the years – ‘You just have to ride the wave and continue to put the work in, and it will work itself out.’”