Competing in his ninth full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series, Chase Elliott is poised to achieve a milestone start. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will make his 300th career start in NASCAR’s premier series.
A native of Dawsonville, Georgia, and the son of the 1988 Cup Series champion Bill Elliott, Chase Elliott made his inaugural presence in the Cup Series at Martinsville Speedway in late March 2015. By then, he was coming off his first full-time campaign in the Xfinity Series with JR Motorsports, where he achieved the series’ championship, and was campaigning in the series for a second season to defend his title. He had also been named the driver of Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 24 Chevrolet entry for the 2016 Cup season, where he would be replacing four-time Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon as Gordon was set to retire following the 2015 season. Driving the No. 25 Chevrolet SS for Hendrick Motorsports during his Cup debut at Martinsville, Elliott started 27th and finished 38th after making contact with Brett Moffitt just past a Lap 60 restart, which damaged his entry’s front and rear ends along with the power steering. He would make his second start at Richmond Raceway three races later, where he would notch a season-best 16th place. His final three starts of the season occurred at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July and at Darlington Raceway in September, where he would finish 18th, 18th and 41st, respectively.
Assuming the steering wheel of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in 2016, Elliott made early headlines by becoming the youngest pole-sitter of the Daytona 500 at age 20 and notching his first Cup career pole. Despite leading three laps, his bid for his first 500 victory came to an early end after he spun entering the frontstretch on Lap 18 and plowed through the tri-oval grass, which damaged the front end of the No. 24 Chevrolet and resulted with Elliott settling in 37th place. He would rebound during the following event at Atlanta Motor Speedway by achieving his first top-10 career result with an eighth-place finish before collecting two additional top-10 results during his next three starts. Beginning at Texas Motor Speedway in April, Elliott went on a nine-race stretch of finishing no lower than 12th as he accumulated eight top-10 results, a second career pole at Talladega Superspeedway in May, a third-place run at Dover Motor Speedway in May a fourth-place run at Pocono Raceway after leading a race-high 51 laps and a career-best runner-up finish at Michigan International Speedway in June. He also competed in his first All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May by virtue of achieving the Fan Vote title, where he ended up sixth. Despite finishing no higher than 15th twice during his next eight events, Elliott concluded the regular-season stretch by finishing second, 10th and 19th, respectively, in the final three events, which were enough for him to qualify for his first appearance in the Cup Series Playoffs.
During the 2016 Playoff opener at Chicagoland Speedway, Elliott led 75 laps and was in position of achieving his first Cup victory until a late caution period and an overtime shootout relegated Elliott to third place in the final running order. By finishing 13th and third during the following two Playoff events, he was able to transfer from the Round of 16 to 12. With respective finishes of 33rd, 31st and 12th throughout the Round of 12, however, Elliott was eliminated from title contention. Nonetheless, he capped off his rookie Cup campaign by notching four consecutive top-12 results during the final four events of the season before finishing in 10th place in the final standings and locking up the Rookie-of-the-Year title. Despite going winless in his rookie Cup season, Elliott notched his first two career poles, 10 top-five results, 17 top-10 results, 358 laps led and an average-finishing result of 14.6.
In a similar fashion to his rookie season, Elliott commenced his sophomore Cup season by notching his second consecutive Daytona 500 pole position and placing HMS’ No. 24 entry on the pole for the 500 for a third consecutive season. He would proceed to win the first Daytona Duel event and become the first competitor to win both a Daytona 500 pole and Duel event in the same season since Dale Earnhardt made the last accomplishment in 1996. During the 500, he led 39 laps and was leading in the closing laps until he started to run out of fuel with three laps remaining and drifted back to 14th place in the final running order. He would rally by notching a runner-up result at Michigan in June along with a total of six top-five results and 14 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, which were enough to make his second consecutive Playoffs based on points.
After finishing in second place during the 2017 Playoff opener at Chicagoland and 11th at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, respectively, Elliott led a race-high 138 laps and was in position of achieving his first victory until he was overtaken by Kyle Busch amid lapped traffic and settling in the runner-up spot, though he managed to transfer from the Round of 16 to 12. After transferring into the Round of 8 amid respective finishes of second, 16th and fourth throughout the Round of 12, Elliott was in another position of winning his first Cup event at Martinsville Speedway in late October as he led 123 laps and fended off Brad Keselowski during a late-race restart with four laps remaining. Then while leading the event with three laps remaining, Elliott was hit and sent spinning into the Turn 3 outside wall by Denny Hamlin, which plummeted Elliott down to 27th place in the final running order and both competitors to exchange harsh words prior to entering pit road. Faced in a “must-win” situation to keep his title hopes alive for the season, he rallied by finishing eighth and second during the final two Round of 8 events, but the results were not enough for him to make the Championship 4 cutline. With a fifth-place finish in the season-finale event at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Elliott ended up in fifth place in the final standings. By then, he earned two additional top-five results from his previous season (12), four additional top-10 results (21), 560 laps led and a new average-finishing result of 12.0.
The 2018 Cup season marked Elliott’s third consecutive season driving for Hendrick Motorsports, but first piloting his father’s number 9 alongside his entry in the Cup circuit as Hendrick assigned the number 24 to newcomer William Byron. Despite winning the second Daytona Duel event and starting on the second row for the 60th running of the Daytona 500, he ended up in 33rd place after being involved in a multi-car wreck just past the halfway mark. Elliott would proceed to finish in the top 10 three times during his next seven starts before notching his eighth runner-up result of his career behind Kyle Busch at Richmond in April. Then after notching three additional top-five results and six top-10 results during his next 12 starts, Elliott scored his first elusive Cup Series career win in his 99th series start at Watkins Glen International after muscling away with the lead during a restart with 32 laps remaining and having enough fuel to fend off a late challenge from the reigning series’ champion Martin Truex Jr. By then, Elliott became the 16th different competitor to win while driving for Hendrick Motorsports as he also recorded the 250th Cup career victory for HMS.
Nabbing three additional top-nine finishes in the final four regular-season events of the 2018 season while also surpassing 100 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series, Elliott commenced the Playoffs by finishing 36th, fourth and sixth, respectively, throughout the Round of 16, which enabled him to transfer into the Round of 12. Then during the Round of 12 opener at Dover Motor Speedway, he fended off Hamlin during an overtime shootout to score his second Cup career win and automatically race his way into the Round of 8. He would gain extra momentum two races by notching his third career victory at Kansas Speedway. Elliott’s title hopes, however, evaporated after finishing seventh, sixth and 23rd, respectively, throughout the Round of 8 as he proceeded to finish seventh at Homestead and sixth in the final standings. Amid a season where he notched his first three career victories, he matched his accumulated top-10 results from his previous season at 21 and achieved an average-finishing result of 12.3.
After notching a runner-up result at Martinsville Speedway in March and only a single additional top-10 result through nine events to commence the 2019 Cup Series season, Elliott notched his first victory of the season at Talladega Superspeedway after leading a race-high 45 laps and retaining the lead on the final lap prior to a multi-car wreck. He would proceed to finish in the top five four times during his next 11 starts before winning at Watkins Glen for a second consecutive season after leading a race-high 80 laps and fending off another late challenge from Truex. Concluding the regular-season stretch with three top-10 results in four races, Elliott finished fourth and 13th, respectively, during the Playoff’s first two events before claiming his third victory of the season at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in October while rallying from an early collision into the first turn’s wall, which enabled him to transfer into the Round of 12. Despite transferring into the Round of 12 by a mere margin, he missed the cutline to make the Championship 4 round for a third consecutive season after finishing no higher than 32nd throughout the Round of 8. With a 15th-place finish at Homestead, Elliott settled in 10th place in the final standings. Overall, he notched three victories, 11 top-five results, 15 top-10 results, 601 laps led and an average-finishing result of 15.1.
The 2020 Cup Series season was a memorable season for Elliott, who rallied from finishing no higher than 17th during the first two events on the schedule by finishing in the top seven during his next three starts. Then after finishing 38th and second during his next two events, he notched his first victory of the season at Charlotte in May. He proceeded to win the All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway in July and accumulate seven top-10 results during his next 14 points-paying events before winning the inaugural Cup event at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course in August. With two additional top-five results during the final three regular-season events, Elliott finished 20th, fifth and seventh, respectively, throughout the Round of 16, which were enough for him to transfer into the Round of 12.
After winning for the third time of the 2020 season and second in a row at the Charlotte Roval in October to transfer into the Round of 8, Elliott then finished sixth and 20th during the Round of 8’s first two events before winning at Martinsville in November and racing his way into the Championship 4 round for the first time in his career. Then during the finale at Phoenix, Elliott, who started at the rear of the field, led a race-high 153 laps and beat title rivals Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin to win both the finale and his first Cup Series championship. By then, Elliott became the 34th different competitor to win a championship in NASCAR’s premier series and the second-youngest champion in the series at age 24. In addition to delivering the 13th Cup championship for Hendrick Motorsports, Chase Elliott and his father Bill joined the Pettys and the Jarretts as the third father-son duo to win a Cup title. Elliott’s championship season occurred as the Georgian achieved career-high stats in victories (five), top fives (15), top 10s (22) and laps led, (1,247), with the driver also securing an average-finishing result of 11.7.
Entering the 2021 Cup Series season as the reigning champion, Elliott commenced the season by finishing in the runner-up spot during the 63rd running of the Daytona 500. He would accumulate four top-five results and six top-10 results during his next 12 starts until notching his first victory of the season in the inaugural, rain-shortened series’ event at Circuit of the Americas. Proceeding by finishing second in his 200th Cup career start in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte followed by another runner-up result at Sonoma Raceway in June, both behind teammate Kyle Larson, Elliott then finished no higher than 12th during his next three events until notching his second Cup victory of the season at Road America, where he led a race-high 24 laps. Concluding the regular-season stretch with five top-10 results in six events, Elliott notched four top-10 results in nine Playoff events, which were enough for him to transfer from the Round of 16 to the Championship 4 round for a second consecutive season. During the finale, however, Elliott finished in fifth place on the track and in fourth place in the final standings. Despite recording two victories, 15 top-five results, 21 top-10 results and 952 laps led throughout the 2021 season, he notched a career-best average-finishing result of 11.4.
Elliott commenced the 2022 Cup season by finishing in the top 10 six times through the first 10 events before winning for the first time of the season at Dover in May. Six races later, he would achieve a second Cup victory of the season at Nashville Superspeedway following a four-lap shootout before winning for the first time at his home track at Atlanta Motor Speedway in July after assuming the lead with two laps remaining and fending off a final lap challenge from Corey LaJoie. He would then be awarded a victory at Pocono in late July in an event where he finished third, but was promoted to first place after initial winner Denny Hamlin and initial runner-up finisher Kyle Busch were disqualified for failing the post-race inspection process. Finishing in the top five twice during the final five regular-season events, Elliott secured his fifth victory of the season at Talladega in October and three top-10 results throughout the Playoffs, which were enough for him to transfer from the Round of 16 to the Championship 4 round for a third consecutive season. During the finale at Phoenix, however, Elliott was turned by title rival Ross Chastain during a restart with 113 laps remaining as he hit the inside wall and was unable to regain competitive form as he ended up in 28th place on the track and in fourth place in the final standings for a second consecutive season. Overall, the 2022 Cup season marked Elliott’s second time notching a career-high five victories as he also accumulated a total of 12 top-five results, 20 top-10 results, three poles, 857 laps led and an average-finishing result of 12.5.
This past season marked Elliott’s difficult seasons to date that commenced with a 38th-place result in the 65th running of the Daytona 500 after being collected in a multi-car wreck just past the halfway mark. Despite finishing in second place during the following scheduled event at Auto Club Speedway, Elliott would then miss the next six events on the schedule after fracturing his tibia following a snowboarding accident in Colorado. Returning at Martinsville in April, he muscled through 500 miles to finish 10th before finishing 12th, 11th, seventh and third, respectively, during his next four starts. Then during the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in May, Elliott was mired with another run-in with Denny Hamlin after Hamlin squeezed Elliott into the outside wall entering the frontstretch, which resulted with Elliott veering dead left and sending Hamlin head-on into the wall as Elliott would be suspended from competing in the following weekend’s event at World Wide Technology Raceway. Finishing fifth in his return to the track at Sonoma but needing a regular-season victory to make the Playoffs, Elliott would finish in the top five four times during his next 10 starts. The closet he came to winning was at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in August, where he finished in the runner-up spot and trailed race winner Michael McDowell by nine-tenths of a second. Despite finishing fourth during the regular-season finale at Daytona in August, Elliott missed the Playoffs for the first time in his career. He would finish in the top 10 five times throughout the Playoffs before settling in 17th place in the final driver’s standings.
Poised for a redemptive campaign in 2024, Elliott commenced the season by notching only a single top-10 result through the first eight events on the schedule. Then after finishing in the top five during his next two starts, he made a triumphant return to Victory Lane at Texas amid two overtime shootouts and a late battle with Ross Chastain, which snapped a 42-race winless drought and has placed Elliott in contention to make the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs. Following the victory at Texas, Elliott earned two additional top-five results in his last four starts and is currently ranked in fourth place in the 2024 regular-season standings while trailing the points lead by 49 points
Through 299 previous Cup starts, Elliott has achieved one championship, 19 victories, 12 poles, 98 top-five results, 158 top-10 results, 5,226 laps led and an average-finishing result of 12.9.
Chase Elliott is scheduled to make his 300th Cup Series career start at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the 65th running of the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 26. The event’s broadcast time is scheduled to occur at 6 p.m. ET on FOX.
