Kevin Harvick Bets on Chase Elliott to Win Indianapolis Motor Speedway Cup Race

NASCAR icon Kevin Harvick was confident that Chase Elliot will kiss the bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend.

Kevin Harvick Bets on Chase Elliott to Win Indianapolis Motor Speedway Cup Race

Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick (Via IMAGO)

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HMS star Chase Elliot had an underwhelming end to last weekend’s race at Dover. The former Cup Series champion was on his way to Victory Lane, but a failed strategy gamble pushed him down to sixth place. As the field now travels to Indianapolis for the iconic Brickyard 400, Kevin Harvick has placed his bets on Elliot to win the race.

The 29-year-old has had a good run so far this season. Chase Elliot leads the Cup Series standings ahead of his teammates, William Byron and Kyle Larson. Though, Elliot only has one victory this year compared to Larson’s three. Nevertheless, the No. 9 driver’s performance has earned him the faith of Kevin Harvick.

Harvick insisted that Chase Elliot will make his way to Victory Lane at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The NASCAR icon highlighted that the ‘Brickyard’ was another team track, similar to Dover. This would in turn see a close battle between Hendricks Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing. It seems that Elliot might be able to avenge his Dover defeat against Denny Hamlin this time around.

I’m going to go with Chase Elliott. I think Dover was good weekend. This is a big team track. The Hendrick versus Gibbs things showed up last week, and I don’t think it’s going anywhere here.

Kevin Harvick said on Happy Hour podcast.

Chase Elliot had led over 200 laps at Dover last weekend. However, a wrong strategy call in the final stages of the race pushed him down to sixth place. While Denny Hamlin was able to secure victory for JGR.

Chase Elliot makes big demand on NASCAR format change

NASCAR’s Playoff format has always divided opinions. First introduced two decades ago, the system has gone through multiple changes. Yet, fans and drivers continue to have different opinions. Now, Chase Elliot has joined in on the conversation, claiming that the sport should do away with Playoffs altogether.

Chase Elliott (via Hendrick)
Chase Elliott (via Hendrickmotorsports.com)

The Playoff format leads to a 10-race shootout between 16 drivers at the end of the season. Drivers qualify to the business end of the tournament by winning one race, or making it through the points cut-off line. This season, some have criticized this format as Shane van Gisbergen qualified for the Playoffs after his win in Mexico. Though, drivers like Ryan Blaney have shown support to the current system.

Chase Elliot who won the Cup Series in 2020 and the regular season championship in 2022 seems unhappy with the Playoff format. He reckoned that considering the action-packed regular season, NASCAR could simply go back to the full points system to decide it’s champion.

There are fears that a full points system could lead to one driver’s dominance in a season. Elliot insisted that if this does happen to be the case, then the field should celebrate the impressive run, rather than trying to crackdown on such performances.

The system would be just fine if you just had a full season (and no playoffs). And if somebody runs away with it, so what? Let’s celebrate the fact that somebody ran away with it, that somebody was just that good.

Chase Elliot told The Athletic.

Certainly, the Playoff format debate will continue in the NASCAR field. No matter the support for the old points system, the sport is unlikely to do away with Playoffs, having worked on it for two decades. Thus, drivers like Chase Elliot will have no choice but to continue fighting hard in the business end of the season to emerge as champions.

Read More: Denny Hamlin Argues in Favor Making Significant Change to NASCAR Playoff Format