CONCORD, N.C. - The site of his first win in the NASCAR Cup Series and the 250th for Hendrick Motorsports, Watkins Glen International will forever be synonymous with Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts team.
And wouldn't this weekend be a heck of a time for the 29-year-old to add to his resume at the 2.45-mile road course nestled in New York?
With three races remaining in the regular season, Elliott and the team are in second place in the points standings, 18 points behind Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron. To the winner go the spoils, most notably 15 playoff points that could prove critical in advancing through the postseason.
But as crew chief Alan Gustafson points out, victories are worth five playoff points themselves. And starting Sunday at Watkins Glen and then subsequent races at Richmond Raceway and Daytona International Speedway, Gustafson feels his team is being presented with big opportunities both in terms of points and the win column.
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"We obviously want to win the regular season but more importantly than that, we want to win some races," Gustafson told HendrickMotorsports.com on Wednesday. "I'm excited about Watkins Glen. It's a great track for us and I really enjoy road course racing in general and I love racing up there, so, we're excited to get up there and compete for the win.
"Richmond is a race that, same thing, I like racing there. It's a lot of fun. I'm excited to get there and we've been working on some new things, so we would like to try to incorporate that at Richmond and try to win that race. And Daytona, we were really good (in the DAYTONA 500) in February. That's as good as we've been down there in a while."
Elliott's prowess at Watkins Glen, and on road courses in general, has long been proven. He has a pair of wins and four top-five finishes in eight starts at the 2.45-mile serpentine circuit and his average finish of 10.6 is best among all active drivers with five or more starts. Elliott's seven road course wins are third best of all time behind only Jeff Gordon (nine) and Tony Stewart (eight).
But he's also been solid at Richmond, where he's strung together 13-straight, top-15 showings including eight top 10s and six top fives in that stretch. And as for Daytona, as Gustafson pointed out, the team's raw speed in the spring is certainly encouraging and with the likely chaos at a drafting track, the regular season finale could offer a major points swing in any direction.
"Anything can happen at any race anymore, and Daytona has a lot of randomness to it, but I feel good that we should be in as good of a position to go there and win as anybody," Gustafson, a native of Ormond Beach, Florida, concluded. "I think we've got three races to polish up as much as we can and go win and get to the playoffs."
While the regular season championship and the points and accolades that go with it are nice, as Gustafson alluded to, the postseason is quickly approaching. And the trophy up for grabs in November is the one that all drivers, crew chiefs and teams are eyeing.
But championship chases don't start once the playoffs begin. Every week at every track provides learning opportunities. Maybe none more so, at least in the latter portion of the regular season schedule, than next week's stop at Richmond.
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With New Hampshire Motor Speedway (Loudon) and World Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway) both on the playoff ledger, as well as a Round-of-8 trip to Martinsville Speedway and the Championship 4 race at Phoenix Raceway, four of the 10 circuits that will determine a champion are a mile or less in length with relatively low banking in the corners.
And that's Richmond. So, the three-quarter mile, D-shaped oval will provide a final dress rehearsal of sorts for teams across the sport.
"We've tried hard to get our flat track program better and Richmond I think will be a really good test to put some of that to work and Gateway too," Gustafson said. "It's a unique playoff with Gateway and Loudon in the playoffs now, so, I think Richmond is a track that can give you some indicators for those tracks too."
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Certainly, the strength of the 9 team through this year and in past years is consistency. Elliott is the only driver to finish in the top 20 of every event this year and he's completed all but one lap.
That will serve the team well, but with the current structure of the Cup Series playoffs, wins and playoff points are at a premium and just like every team in the garage, the No. 9 group is still reaching for more. With a victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway already under their belts, Gustafson sees nothing but opportunity ahead.
"You're always trying to be better but I think the team has been operating at a high level," Gustafson said. "Certainly, there are things, and you always want to improve and if you look at the last couple of races, we haven't gotten the finishes we wanted. But I feel like we know why the performance has been there in the car, so I'm excited about Watkins Glen."