Chase Elliott: I sat on the couch for 7 weeks this year and we had a legitimate shot

• Nascar

Saturday night at Daytona will bring a lot of excitement, and it is difficult to predict what will happen in the end. There is a lot of nervousness, fear, tension. The importance of this race is huge for most. Chase Elliott is one of the drivers to whom special attention will be directed.

At this moment, only victory can save him if he wants to reach the playoffs. “There’s a lot of high spots we should be proud of,” he said. Due to the fact that Elliott broke his leg while skiing, he was forced to take a break for almost two months.

Because of that, it is quite understandable that fans and Elliott himself didn't expect that he would even be able to be in the race for the playoff spot. It makes him happy just to fight for the playoff spot. “A friend of mine said to me this week, 'Dude, you missed seven races and you were like 40 points from 16th before Michigan,’ ” Elliott said.

"When you look at it like that, it could be a lot worse. I sat on the couch for seven weekends this year and we had a legitimate shot. And we haven't been running our best, either”.

William Byron

Many believe that William Byron could excel again and achieve success in this race.

The man with the most wins this season will be under scrutiny this time as well. Jeff Gordon, vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports confirmed in a press conference how much confidence he has in Byron. “He’s capable of winning everywhere,” said Gordon.

“For us as we look at drivers and evaluate drivers, that’s what you’re looking for is somebody that’s diverse, somebody that’s aggressive but also knows how to save the equipment when they need to, somebody that can stay calm in stressful situations.

He’s pretty calm and cool off the track, but he’s aggressive on the track. That’s everything you can ask for out of a driver."