Elliott. A last name everyone should know. Made famous back
in the 1980’s and 1990’s, Awesome Bill from Dawsonville started his NASCAR
career in 1976, at the young age of 20 years old, 19 years before son Chase was
born. During his career, Bill Elliott racked up 44 wins, 320 top fives, and 55
poles. Bill also holds the record for the fastest qualifying speed of a 212.809
MPH. Bill is a legend who paved his own way through NASCAR. Now, it’s his son’s
Chase’s turn.
At 18, Chase Elliott has accomplished what a lot of racers
wish they could. In February of 2011, Chase signed a three-year developmental
driver contract with power house Hendrick Motorsports, making Chase, at 15, the
youngest driver on the Hendrick roster. Chase raced in a number of different
lower tier series for Hendrick Motorsports before running a select few NASCAR
Camping World Truck Series races in 2013 at the age of 17. In his nine starts
in the series, Chase racked up 1 win, 5 top fives and 7 top tens.
That one win came with a lot of controversy. Chase was
racing Ty Dillon for the win when Chase put a bumper to Ty and Ty spun,
resulting in Chase’s win. Was it right for Chase to spin Ty for the win? At the
time, Chase had said that’s not the way he races, but he also had said that he
felt like it was the right thing to do. Dillon didn’t give him an inch and
Chase decided to take that inch. It’s all water under the bridge now. Early
this year, at Indy, Chase had come out to congratulate Ty on his win.
Let’s talk about the fan base. Most of Chase’s fans have
come from his father, Bill. That’s definitely not unusual. We saw it when Dale
Sr. died. 95% of Sr.’s fans are now Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s fans. I have seen
firsthand on how many people actually are Chase Elliott fans. I had taken a 4.5
hour trip from Wisconsin to Chicagoland Speedway last month when the Nationwide
Series had their stand-alone race. There were only two Cup driver in the field:
Kyle Larson, and Chase’s teammate Kasey Kahne. Chase had dominated that race
and when he did his burnouts, you could hear the roar of the cheers coming from
every single section at the speedway, myself included. Chase’s fans are just in
one age group. They range from fans as old as his father to fans younger than
my 23 years of age, including my cousin who never seen a full NASCAR race until
that night. Needless to say, she’s a fan.
Let’s back track to Daytona of this year. Chase’s Nationwide
Series debut. It’s hard to believe that Chase never started a race in the
Nationwide series before Daytona in February. In his debut, Chase finished
15th. Kind of lack luster, right? Since then, Chase has been consistent, which
has him sitting atop not only the rookie standings, but as of right now Chase
is the championship points leader. He lead his teammate, Regan Smith, by 15
points (all stats are current through 9/2/14). This kid has been outstanding as
a rookie. In his 25 starts, Chase has racked 3 wins, 11 top five finishes, and
17 top ten finishes.
Let’s look at his wins. Texas, Darlington, and Chicagoland.
Three tracks that have absolutely nothing in common, except for one thing.
Chase. Let’s take a look at his first win. Texas. Texas is a 1.5 mile oval with
24 degree banking in the turns. Chase started 6th, led 38 laps to
win it. Now on to Darlington. The Lady in black. The track ‘Too Tough Too
Tame’. Darlington is a 1.366 mile track with 25 degrees of banking in turns one
& two and 23 degrees of banking in turns 3 & 4. How does a rookie lead 52 laps AND win? That
has been on everyone’s mind. Darlington is such a tough track to race and Chase
goes there for his first ever start at Darlington and wins it. Let’s skip a few
ahead months to July. Chicagoland. Nationwide Series stand-alone race with only
two Cup regulars in the field. No one had anything for Chase that night. he led
85 laps and cruised to Victory at the 1.5 mile track.
Chase has been consistent and good right out of the box. JR
Motorsports has backing from Hendrick Motorsports, which make them a power
house in the Nationwide Series. Chase’s average finish so far is 8.7 with a
pole at his home track Atlanta this past weekend. Chase’s average finish is 8.4,
factoring in his fifth place finish at Atlanta. It’s hard to believe that Chas
is only 18. He just graduated high back in May.
Let’s talk about the future. It’s already been announced
that Chase will make his Cup debut in 2015, but the race is still to be
determined. Which track would be the best place for Chase to make his debut? A short
track like Richmond or Bristol? A Super Speedway like Daytona or Talladega? Maybe
a track like Charlotte or Atlanta. Let’s skip to Chase’s first year in Cup. Will
that be in 2016? 2017? Will he replace Jeff Gordon if he retires in the next
few seasons? Will Chase go somewhere else for his rookie year? Time can only
tell.
Chase may be only 18 years old, but he races like the
veterans and act mature beyond his years. It’s going to be fun to watch this
kid climb his way to the top and I hope I’m there to see it.
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