NASCAR: Chase Elliott on How He Can Win Second Cup Series Championship (Exclusive)

By Brian Jones

The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship takes place at the Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, and Chase Elliott is looking to make history. The 26-year-old NASCAR star is one of the four drivers who is competing for a title on Sunday and could become the 17th driver in NASCAR history to win multiple Cup Series Championships. In an exclusive interview with PopCulture.com, Elliott talked about what he and his team need to do in order to come out on top. 

"You got to do everything right, to be honest with you," Elliott exclusively told PopCulture. "And obviously until the race kind of unfolds, it's hard to know the fine details as to what's going to go on. But right now it's just about a good week of prep, talking about the things we need to improve on, talking about the things maybe that we've done good in the past out there. Try to focus on our strengths and make sure we execute those things at a high level. 

"It's a pretty standard week of prep, honestly, I don't really feel like anything changes for me or how I go about my race week, and the things I'm thinking about. Just making sure we're talking about all the fine details and preparing as best we can. And really, outside that, I can't really do a whole lot until we get there."

Elliott is arguably NASCAR's most popular driver as he's been named that for the last four years. He won the Cup Series title in 2020 and finished fourth last year, so it's not a surprise to see him in a position to win a title for the third consecutive year. 2022 was a big season for Elliott as he won five Cup Series races. Compared to the 2021 season, when Elliott won just two races. 

After coming up short in 2021, Elliott comes into Sunday's race confident he holds up the trophy at the end of the race. "I think you certainly hope that you can take all those experiences and have them help you as time goes on," Elliott said. "Granted, we didn't have any experience the first year we were there, and we were able to win it then. I would love to say that those things are going to help you. But honestly, I think just having a good week of prep and understanding where you're at, and the things you need to focus on, and executing a really good race weekend is going to be the best way to have success. That really is most important to me right now and our team."

Elliott's journey is documented on the USA Network series Race for the Championship, and the final episode of the series airs on Thursday night. When asked about the series, Elliott says he likes that fans get to see what he and other drivers go through during a season. 

"I think it's nice that they're giving people an opportunity to see a little more as to what goes on," he said. "I think as long as everybody's enjoying it, then that's great and it doesn't really change my goals or things that I have going on. But yeah, if our fans are enjoying it, then I think that's a good thing, and we'll just take it as it comes."

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