Chase Elliott leads standings? Jimmie Johnson finished sixth? What's going on?


Chase Elliott is off to a fairly quiet start. How could he be leading the points standings?

Fairly quiet? Jeez, he doesn’t even have a top-5 finish.

Finishing between sixth and 11th in four of the five races could be considered steady in a “Terry Labonte gathering points” kind of way. And his other finish is a 26th, which isn’t god-awful horrible considering most guys have at least one finish of 30th or worse.

This week's race at Austin's glitzy road course seems like the proper place for Chase Elliott to validate his current status atop the points standings.

This week’s race at Austin’s glitzy road course seems like the proper place for Chase Elliott to validate his current status atop the points standings.

Sunday’s winner, William Byron, started the season with finishes of 38th and 34th, yet Billy the Kid is fourth in points and second in the projected playoff standings.

Oh … Denny Hamlin sits 26th, by the way.

An old colleague liked to say, “when in doubt, pull for chaos.” Through five weeks, we’re getting it by the hauler-full.

THROUGH THE GEARS: How ’bout that new look at Atlanta Motor (Super)Speedway?

THROUGH THE GEARS: How about a review of the new Atlanta speedway?

Who was that finishing sixth at the IndyCar race?

All they had to do was put Jimmie Johnson on an oval track, take the brakes and right-hand turns out of the equation, and just like that, the familiar Jimmie Johnson returned.

After opening his IndyCar career with 13 road-course races and nothing but back-of-the-pack finishes, Texas was the first oval of Jimmie’s newly expanded schedule, and it went well.

Looking two months ahead, this seems to bode well for his chances in his first-ever attempt at the Indianapolis 500. Between now and then, however, are three road-course races and no more ovals, so he can’t build on his Fort Worth success before lining up at Indy.

You have to applaud a guy who’s suddenly doing 30 mph faster than he’s accustomed to driving at Texas. And he’s not a kid, by the way.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Psst … Chase Elliott leads NASCAR points; and look at Jimmie Johnson!



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