2023 was a year to forget for the driver of the Hendrick Motorsports No.9 Chevrolet. Chase Elliott went winless for the first time since 2017, which was just his second full-time Cup season.
He also had his worst points finish of his career. Elliott ended the 2023 campaign 17th in the points, while missing six races early in the season because of a broken leg.
He rebounded from the injury enough to score five top-five finishes and 15 top-10s, but it wasn't enough in the end, as he missed out on the playoffs.
Many would have thought the injury had much to do with Elliott's lack of success in 2023, but that's not what he told Jenna Fryer from the Associated Press. He implied that 2023's struggles were caused by how his 2022 season ended.
Elliott won the most races in the series in 2022 with five, but only had one top-10 finish in crunch time of the playoffs. He finished the worst of the four drivers in the Championship Four that season.
"I certainly don't blame the injury. I don't think my knee had anything to do with our performance," Elliott said. "It would be really easy for me to take that excuse, but I just don't think it is valid. I think the things we struggled with last year were the things we were struggling with at the end of '22. And they rolled over into last season."
2024 is a new season, and Elliott has high expectations and just wants to fight for wins every week.
"The biggest thing is just getting competitive on a weekly basis," Elliott said. "I want to win and want to put up big numbers like everyone does. But for me right now and our team, truthfully, the goal of mine is just being competitive on a weekly basis, just consistently be a contender. That's all I've ever been after because I am a believer if you are a consistent contender each week, and if you are someone who shows up and has opportunities to win each week, you will get your share and be a car and driver that doesn't surprise anyone with their results."
Elliott had been that for the previous five seasons before 2023, winning at least once every year since 2018, and he has every chance to get back to that level this season.
