Chase Elliott stated Saturday night time that lacking the playoffs for the primary time in his Cup Series profession is a “bummer,” nevertheless it gives a studying expertise.

“I appreciate everybody’s support through this season that hasn’t been what I would want by any means,” Elliott stated after ending fourth within the Cup regular-season finale. “But certainly going to be some lessons taken from it, and I think we’ll be better for it on the other end.”

Elliott fails to make the playoffs for an eighth consecutive 12 months after lacking seven races this season — six for damage and one for suspension. This dropped him nicely under the playoff cutline as the tip of the common season approached.

Elliott had a possibility to level his approach into the playoffs, however a crash at Michigan and a fuel issue at Watkins Glen put him in a must-win state of affairs at Daytona.

The 2020 Cup champion did what he may on the superspeedway. He prevented a 16-car incident on the finish of stage 2, and he put himself on the second row for the beginning of time beyond regulation. He simply couldn’t cap the night time with a win due to the teamwork of the RFK Racing drivers.

“I feel like we had an OK chance there, but Brad (Keselowski) and (winner Chris Buescher) just worked so well together there and they were able to stay locked-on,” Elliott stated after the race. “They were so locked-on there … they just had a strangle-hold on the top lane.

“Unfortunately, I just couldn’t get to Kevin (Harvick) and stay there like that, and just make the bottom lane work. I kind of bottled it up there and just couldn’t get enough momentum going forward.”

There are a number of areas the place Elliott and crew chief Alan Gustafson could make enhancements for subsequent season. They can put an even bigger emphasis on qualifying after the No. 9 automobile solely reached the ultimate spherical seven occasions in his 19 begins.

They may proceed to work on race technique for street programs and different tracks the place they don’t have to fret about pitting in a bunch. Nailing these little particulars could make the distinction between contending for a championship and ending the common season under the cutline.

While Elliott missed out on the ultimate playoff spot on the motive force facet, he nonetheless checked off a objective that was crucial to Hendrick Motorsports. He put the No. 9 Chevrolet within the proprietor championship over the No. 23 of 23XI Racing.

Elliott now has a possibility to pursue wins and factors that can transfer the No. 9 via the opening rounds of the playoffs. NASCAR pays the season-end purses based mostly on the proprietor standings, so Elliott may also help ship an even bigger payday with a robust postseason run.

“Obviously we came up a little short, but nonetheless — I hate the way the season has gone, but proud to get the car into the owner’s championship,” Elliott stated. “It’s a big deal to get in on the owner’s side, so hopefully we’ll try and go make some noise on that front, and just keep progressing and pushing to be better for next year. We’ll be better through all of this down the road.”

Elliott isn’t the one distinguished driver to overlook the playoffs. Teammate Alex Bowman additionally missed the minimize after an damage sidelined him for 3 races. Reigning Rookie of the Year Austin Cindric missed the playoffs after successful his approach in final season.

Austin Dillon and Daniel Suarez, who each received their approach into the playoffs final season, missed the minimize after falling into must-win conditions through the common season. They joined AJ Allmendinger, who entered the season as one of many favorites to make the playoffs as a result of variety of street programs on the schedule.