Chase Elliott would like nothing more than to win at his home state track. (Photo: Stephen Conley | The Podium Finish)
While Chase Elliott may be a sixth year NASCAR Cup Series veteran, he’s still a young gun at age 26.
The Dawsonville, Georgia native has some accolades in his name such as his 2014 NASCAR Xfinity Series title and the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series championship. Beyond that, he’s a man of the people with four consecutive National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) Most Popular Driver Awards.
Much like his father, Bill, he prefers doing his talking behind the wheel of his No. 9 car. However, the 13-time Cup race winner also has his passionate moments, not too afraid to extend his elbows on the track, even against his Hendrick Motorsports teammates.
Still, Elliott continually evolves, particularly with his communication with his NAPA Auto Parts team led by crew chief Alan Gustafson.
“I would like to think it has gotten better,” Elliott said in a pre-race conference. “I hope, you know, I feel like I’ve learned a lot for sure over the course of my time. I’m always learning, you know I don’t feel like I ever had it perfect. Somebody has it perfect, I’d love to meet them. I think it’s definitely a learning thing and you know the sport’s just always changing.”
If anyone can understand and appreciate change, it’s Elliott. After all, he succeeded Jeff Gordon when taking over the No. 24 car in 2016 following the latter’s retirement from full-time competition.
During his first two seasons, Elliott was close but no cigar to a maiden Cup win. Once William Byron joined the Hendrick fold following Kasey Kahne’s departure for the 2018 season, Elliott switched his number to No. 9, the same number he drove to his 2014 Xfinity championship.
Since then, Elliott’s taken the fight to his Cup competitors, placing sixth and 10th before his 2020 title and a fourth place points finish last year.
Despite a somewhat headscratcher of a start, Elliott’s finishes of 10th, 26th, ninth and 11th in the first four rounds of 2022 net him a third place points standing spot heading into Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Indeed, Elliott is up to the task in a year constantly filled with changes.
“I mean, look at this year,” he offered. “We are coming in with a new car and these things drive different. Coming to a brand new Atlanta Motor Speedway here, things are just always changing.
“It’s like nothing is ever just going to stay the same always. So, I think just having an open mind and maybe taking some of those past experiences with you as you encounter new things and be willing to maybe break a habit or two to improve.
Despite adjusting to the new Next Gen car, Elliott seems confident about his chances as the year progresses. (Photo: Jordan Anders-McClain | The Podium Finish)
Surely, Elliott would love to win in front of his home state fans and capture his first win on an oval layout since his Phoenix championship win on Nov. 8, 2020. In his past seven starts, Elliott has a top five and five top 10 finishes, logging a respectable average finish of 13.6.
On the other hand, Elliott realizes that there’s a bit of a challenge with the Next Gen car, even when it comes to his favorite racing layout in road courses.
“Obviously, [Circuit of the Americas, COTA, will be] our first road course race with this car,” he considered. “I don’t think anybody has really driven it a lot on road courses. You know we had the test at Charlotte there early on, but it seemed like every team was they had a car at the track and they were kind of rotating drivers through.
“So, I don’t think any of us got a ton of time with it. But, you know, these cars, really, a lot of the design pieces come from road race background some of the things they see and on the IMSA side of things.”
As evident during the various preliminary test sessions in the past three years, Elliott observed the incredible potential with the Next Gen car on any circuit type within the NASCAR Cup Series schedule, especially when he defends his win in next Sunday’s EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix at COTA.
“I really think they’re probably going to suit road racing well,” he said. “I think they’ll be fine, and I don’t know that the race will look a ton different honestly. I think the cars will drive fine. Certainly, getting use to those small things that are going to be a little bit different and the shifting and the brakes. Just how they act at some of those different style of corners.
“COTA has a lot of different angles and weird off camera situations, so curious to see how it drives. I think it would be fine.”
Elliott is a man of the people during race weekends. (Photo: Jordan Anders-McClain | The Podium Finish)
All things considered, Elliott, despite his veteran status, realizes he can still learn new tricks despite his set on, successful approach. In the grand scheme of things, the Georgian realizes it’s OK, as The Cars sang, to “shake it up.”
“Sometimes, those things are hard to do,” Elliott remarked. “I feel like a lot of times, as a driver, you always kind of fall back into what is natural to you. But sometimes you have to adjust that, and you know like I said, break a habit which is tough.
“I think it’s necessary sometimes to be successful, so yeah just trying to take a weekend at a time and make the most of, like I say all the time, a great opportunity. I’ve got that right now, so I’m just trying to have some fun with it too.”
