Chase Elliott may be leading the NASCAR Cup Series standings but not everyone is impressed.
NASCAR analyst and former driver Kyle Petty has publicly questioned Elliott’s rise to the top. He called it “mediocre consistency” not standout performance.
Elliott who has 12 top 10s in 21 races this season quietly moved to the top of the standings after last Sunday’s race at Dover. He spun twice while leading but still finished 6th.
The Hendricks Motorsports driver has been top 20 in every race this season and that’s kept him in the conversation even without frequent trips to victory lane. But for Kyle Petty that’s not enough.
Speaking on PRN’s Fast Talk Petty said “He’s been incredibly consistent. Mostly mediocre consistent, which has led him to lead the championship. He’s just there, he’s vanilla… He’s not done anything special to lead the points.”
Petty Want More Than Consistency
Kyle Petty went on to compare Chase Elliott to more aggressive drivers. “When you look at Denny with four wins, when you look at at Shane with three wins, when you look at these other guys who have led races and gone out in a blaze of glory and all this stuff. Chase is just that guy. It’s the tortoise and the hare. It’s the tortoise and the hare.”
He later said “Top 20 is not a stat, dude… Top 10, top 5, wins. That’s what we go after.”
Petty said Chase Elliott’s consistency has been enough to keep him near the front but it’s not the same as drivers who dominate races.
Even Kyle Larson said he was surprised to see Elliott second in the standings after his Atlanta win earlier this month. Elliott has since passed teammate William Byron who led the series most of the year and now leads by 16 points.
Next up for Chase Elliott is the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway a track where he’s never had a top 5. While Larson won there in 2024 Elliott has yet to make an impact at the crown jewel event.
With the regular season winding down the race may be the opportunity for the points leader to silence his critics with a big result.
