NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
FEBRUARY 12, 2025
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet – DAYTONA 500 Media Day Quotes
Last year, the front-row for the DAYTONA 500 was swept by Ford. Was there a concern with the speed of the Chevrolet’s this year, or how did you feel after practice?
“No concern, at least from my perspective. I’m not worried about it.. whether we qualify on the pole or not. The practice thing is really hard to know, just because – like I can look at the timing sheet, but I’m not sitting there watching who’s drafting and who’s not. I can’t keep up with all of that at one time. I don’t know.. I think until you get into qualifying tonight and everyone is on a level playing field with the cars being cold, going out for the first time and all that, you really just don’t know. I think it’s a hard thing to guess.”
No Mic..
“It’s so frustrating sometimes because like we’re sitting down there in line, you know, and some people were trying to get a nice gap and then there were other people trying to fill the gap and are rushing. So there’s always that element to making single-car runs. Just getting impatient sitting down there and wanting to go. I understand that, but that’s the most confusing element. Outside of that, I think it’s pretty standard ops, really.”
President Trump was at the Super Bowl last weekend. You were there and saw it. There’s rumors he’s going to be here on Sunday. How would you feel about having him in attendance?
“Yeah, I wasn’t sitting next to him, but I saw that he was there at the game the other day. Yeah, I think having a sitting President come and be a part of one of our biggest days of the year – certainly what I would call our biggest event of the year, I think is special. It certainly brings a lot of eyes and a different perspective to what we do down here for this race. I always thought it was really cool — I remember, a long time ago now, the sitting president used to call the winner. I don’t know if you all remember that or not, but there was some stories of that happening. I’ve never won, so I don’t know if that still happens or not. But I just think that — it just goes to show you that it’s a big deal, right? I don’t care who the President is at that point.. that’s just a cool thing. I had heard stories of that happening and I hope that still goes on..”
So you’d like to get a call from President Trump on Sunday?
“That sounds like we would have won the race at that point, so that sounds like a good thing.”
If you could redo a race from 2024, which race would that be?
“Hmm.. that’s tough. There’s a lot of races that I would redo. You know, probably Indy, I would say sticks out to me the most. We had our violation there early in the race, which I kind of thought was our death sentence that day. And then the next thing you know, the way the race cycled out, we ended up being — we were actually the first car on the winning strategy at the end of that race. I just didn’t get through traffic very well. Kyle (Larson) and Tyler (Reddick) knifed their way up through there and both had a shot to win the race. I just felt like that was on me. I didn’t do a good job. We had a great car that weekend, and I needed to take better advantage of a good opportunity.”
Christopher Bell said earlier today that he felt like the practice session this morning was unnecessary. Where do you stand on practice before qualifying here?
“Yeah, I think that’s a fair statement for someone like him, or someone like me, who’s been here and who’s done it. But I look at it like this — from a weekly standpoint.. do we need practice at length, like we had in years past? Absolutely not. But for a race like this — we’re down here all week anyway. We have Media Day today. We qualify tonight. It’s not a big deal. It’s an hour practice and gives guys who have maybe not driven a Cup car before, rookies, people coming in to make at least a lap or two.. I don’t think that’s hurting anything. It’s not like we’re here extra early to do that.. days in advance or anything. I agree with him.. not necessary for people that have been here for a little while. But I could certainly see the argument for guys who haven’t, you know, so I get that. I don’t want it to be taken the wrong way, like it needs to be that way all the time, but just to be clear.”
What does the DAYTONA 500 mean to you?
“It means a great opportunity to submit your name into the history books of the sport, is kind of how I look at it. This race has always been, in my view, been kind of it’s own event. I understand it’s part of the season, the winner gets locked-in or kind of locked-in.. however you all want to say it. They’re locked-in when they leave here, right? And then it gets close to the playoffs and we’re promoting how many winners we have, right? It’s always important to remember that a win does not lock you in, if you get more winners than you have spots. I kind of don’t like that narrative, but I do think that — it’s just it’s own thing. It’s an opportunity to put your name on that big trophy over there; to finish your career and say you’ve won the DAYTONA 500. That’s what it is. It’s an opportunity to do that, which is a really big deal.”
It’s been 10 years since your first DAYTONA 500 start… (inaudible).
“Yeah, it’s just honestly crazy that it’s been that long, to be honest. It’s just gone by so fast. Every year has felt so different to me. I think people look at careers and they think of just this one big storybook, with every year being a different chapter. And to me, it’s almost like every year is its own book. That’s how different the seasons feel to me. Just so much changes.. I mean, I was 20 or 21 years old my first year, and now I’m almost 30 and just like — for everyone standing here that is almost 30 years old or older than 30, how much did your life change from 20 to 30? How much different did you look at things from 20 to 30? That’s just a huge chunk of your life that just makes things feel different, you know? Every year has its own story and it’s own feel. I’ve enjoyed that ride. Some of its been really good.. some of it’s not been so good. But there’s a lot of experiences in all of that that I think can help shape you and mold you to be better, and the only thing you can control is today moving forward.”
Was this off-season any different than past off-seasons. If that’s how seasons feel, did this one feel any different?
“The off-season in particular? Not really. You know, I enjoy being around home; spending the holidays with family and all that sort of thing. And that’s pretty standard, I would say. But certainly from a competition standpoint and just kind of how we finished last year, the things we were focused on going into this year — the way I was looking at things at the end of last year versus how I was looking at things the year before are different. You hope that that they’re better, or I hope that it’s better. But from that standpoint, absolutely. From the off-season side of things, not really.”
Good things on the horizon for your foundation this year?
“We’re still working through that, but it will likely be more of a program that we’ve done with the ‘DESI9N TO DRIVE’. And we’re looking at kind of adjusting and changing things a little bit moving forward. I think this year will probably stay the same, and maybe after this year, we’ll kind of look at trying to find some other unique way to do something cool.”
As you start getting older, do you start thinking about the future and what you’re going to do post-driving career?
“I really haven’t. I don’t know what I would want to do. It’s a hard thing to — It’s kind of one of those things, I feel like.. I’ve watched other guys go through that. I’ve watched other guys leave and come back. I’ve kind of seen it all, I guess, depending upon who it is. But I think those feelings, those emotions, that timing or whatever’s next — you have to kind of assess those things when that time comes. As I said a second ago, so much can change. You could look at things a little differently. Your interest might be a little different or something. When those moments come, you’ll address them. You’ll assess it, address it and make those decisions and you’ll know that’s the right time to make those decisions I think. I think it’s just kind of a feeling thing, from what I’ve gathered. I don’t know.. I don’t want to go anywhere yet, so I hope I can stick around for a few more years.”
On Dale Earnhardt Jr. and JR Motorsports attempting to make the DAYTONA 500 as a former JRM driver:
“I know it’s a big deal to him, and I hope that they’re successful and are able to get into the show and all that. I think to have a guy like him involved in any capacity I think is a good thing. He’s just passionate about it. He’s been very vocal about how much it means to him and to field a Cup car, especially here at the DAYTONA 500. I just think it’s healthy and it’s good. I’m glad that the system isn’t so complicated or has gotten so outrageously expensive that that couldn’t happen because it almost kind of felt that way, you know, there for a little while that he was kind of scared to get in a little bit was the vibe I got.. or kind of scared to make that commitment. So I’m just glad that it makes sense, you know, and he can come in and field a car and have fun with it and live a dream that he’s had.”
From a team perspective, how much confidence did the Clash win give you?
“Yeah, it was great. And really not just that, but the end of last year was really encouraging for us. I thought we ended on a really good note. We were just a little late to the party, you know, I think really and truly. We started to run better and lead some laps there at the end of the year, and we had a great shot there to win a couple of races in the last month. I thought all of that was really encouraging. To be able to build on those things; to come out and perform the way we did on Saturday. Yes, the race went well, but all of that start over the off-season, and the things we were focused on, talking about and thinking about and trying to make sure we executed properly. And then to go do that, I thought that was a nice boost for us. I don’t think it’s one of those things where it will make your year or even break your year if it didn’t go well, but certainly nice to know that the things we’ve been zoned in on and pushing were also reality at Bowman Gray, too.”
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