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Chase Elliott was unable to claim the gold medal at a must-win race in Martinsville. Despite this, the 29-year-old is holding his head up high and revealed how he is proud of the efforts by the No. 9 crew so far.Elliott was one of the few drivers to have won multiple races this year. Moreover, he had emerged victorious in the postseason after winning the race in Kansas.However, since then, his performances had slumped, and he arrived in Martinsville, where only a race win could have helped him get inside the championship 4.The 29-year-old has the experience to do so, as in his championship-winning year in 2020, Elliott was faced with the same circumstances and won the race in Martinsville. But, with William Byron executing a flawless race at the sub-one-mile speedway, even this door closed up.So, after finishing the race in third, which was his ninth top-five finish of the season, the Dawsonville-born driver was definitely hurt but not dejected. Sharing his thoughts after the race on X, he wrote:"Left it all out on the track yesterday and came up just short. It stings, but I'm damn proud of our 9 group for bringing it all season long! That's all you can ask for. We'll shoot for one more at Phoenix. I appreciate y'all's support this year 👊🏼 #di9"Chase Elliott @chaseelliottLINKLeft it all out on the track yesterday and came up just short. It stings, but I'm damn proud of our 9 group for bringing it all season long! That's all you can ask for. We'll shoot for one more at Phoenix. I appreciate y'all's support this year 👊🏼 #di9Chase Elliott was one of the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers to have made it into the playoffs at the beginning of the postseason.Chase Elliott is vouching for Kyle Larson and William Byron in PhoenixChase Elliott and Kyle Larson are the only active Hendrick Motorsports drivers to have won a Cup Series title. The No. 9 driver won the elusive Cup Series championship in 2020, and the latter won it in 2021.On the contrary, since then, Team Penske had dominated the top of the championship standings. But, with only Joe Gibbs Racing and HM drivers left in the mix for the Cup Series title, Elliott is backing his teammates to claim the victory in Phoenix, as he said after the race in Martinsville (via NBC Sports):"I feel like we’ve had some of our best races over the last month, which is a lot of fun to end the year strong and be up there in the mix a lot more. I’m proud of that and the fight all day today and throughout the week.""The effort everybody at Hendrick Motorsports put into these cars and just trying to bring our very best here, I thought we did that. Unfortunately, we just came up short. But fortunately, we got two cars into the Championship Four and hopefully one of them can get it done."Since 2023, Chase Elliott streak of not making it into the final four remains unbeaten.
