Chase Elliott through the years

By Staff Report | Tuesday, December 22, 2020

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Chase Elliott has had quite a rise up the NASCAR ladder. The following is a look through Elliott's life in NASCAR, including some classic shots of him with Hall of Famers, like dad Bill Elliott and Dale Earnhardt.

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From a young age, Chase Elliott was a fixture at NASCAR race tracks around the country, often seen with his racing father "Awesome Bill" Elliott. Here, he's pictured in the lap of the legendary Dale Earnhardt.

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2002: Young Chase Elliott made another race track cameo with father Bill before the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway on July 28.

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2002: The future racer got an early taste of Victory Lane, celebrating with his father in the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway Victory Lane after the elder Elliott's 2002 Brickyard 400 win.

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Sara D. Davis | Getty Images for NASCAR

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2011: Chase Elliott began racing in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East at the age of 15, making his first start in the series on April 2, at Greenville-Pickens Speedway. He finished fourth in his K&N debut.

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2012: Chase Elliott earned his first K&N Pro Series win on May 19, when he beat future fellow NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney to the start-finish line by .844 seconds at Iowa Speedway.

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2013: His racing career on the upswing, Chase Elliott was named as part of the NASCAR Next class in 2013. His classmates included Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suarez (all pictured here).

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2013: Chase Elliott began competing in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series on a part-time schedule in 2013, making his series debut at Martinsville Speedway on April 6. He only raced one part-time season in the series, driving the No. 94 Chevrolet.

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2013: Chase Elliott earned his first NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series victory on Sept. 1 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, leading 22 of 64 laps around the road course and making contact with Ty Dillon at the finish.

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2014: Before the start of the 2014 season, JR Motorsports announced Chase Elliott would drive the No. 9 Chevrolet for the Dale Earnhardt Jr.-owned team in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

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2014: It didn't take Chase Elliott long to start tallying wins; he drove the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet to Victory Lane on April 4 at Texas Motor Speedway. It was just his sixth series start.

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2014: Chase Elliott's rookie year in the Xfinity Series also marked his first major series NASCAR championship. Having won three times that year, Elliott did the infamous yellow burnouts at Homestead-Miami Speedway after securing the title for JR Motorsports, the team's first Xfinity championship.

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2015: Before the start of the 2015 season, Hendrick Motorsports announced veteran driver Jeff Gordon would retire after the 2015 season and Chase Elliott would take his place as the driver of the legendary No. 24 Chevrolet beginning in 2016.

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2015: The 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Jan. 30 was a family affair, as Chase Elliott's father, Bill, was inducted into the 2015 class.

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2015: To prepare for his full-time stint in the No. 24 ride, Chase Elliott made five NASCAR Cup Series starts in the No. 25 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in 2015. His best result came at Richmond Raceway, when he finished 16th.

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2015: Chase Elliott earned the 2015 Most Popular Driver award in the NASCAR Xfinity Series at the end-of-season banquet. His JR Motorsports team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. also earned the award in the NASCAR Cup Series.

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2016: Chase Elliott and crew chief Alan Gustafson kicked off his rookie season with a bang, earning the season-opening pole award at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 14. Elliott, who became the youngest Daytona 500 pole winner in series history, drove the No. 24 Chevrolet at 196.314 mph to secure the top spot for "The Great American Race."

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2016: Chase Elliott's father, Bill, was in attendance for his son's first NASCAR Cup Series pole at Daytona International Speedway. The elder Elliott still holds the record for fastest qualifying speed at the Florida track, having reached 210.364 mph during 1987 qualifying for the Daytona 500.

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2016: Inching closer and closer to Victory Lane, Chase Elliott earned his first runner-up result in the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on June 11, leading 35 laps around the 2-mile track. He would notch another runner-up finish at the 2-mile track on Aug. 28.

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2016: In preparation for his road course debut at Sonoma Raceway on June 26, Chase Elliott ran the K&N West Series race to gain experience -- and took home the checkered flag in the process.

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2016: Chase Elliott took home Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors for the season beating out fellow rookies Ryan Blaney and Chris Buescher for the award. On the season, Elliott notched 10 top fives, 17 top 10s and led 358 laps, while making the postseason field.

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2017: Chase Elliott opened his second full-time season the same way he began his rookie campaign, with the Daytona 500 pole. The Georgia native became the fifth driver to win consecutive Daytona 500 poles -- joining Fireball Roberts, Buddy Baker, Bill Elliott (his dad) and Ken Schrader in that exclusive club.

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2017: His third career NASCAR Cup Series start at Michigan International Speedway yielded a runner-up result in June. That made it three starts, three second-place finishes for Chase Elliott at Michigan.

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Courtesy of Hendrick Motorsports

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2017: In August 2017, Hendrick Motorsports announced Chase Elliott would drive the No. 9 in 2018. The number was famously driven by his father, Bill Elliott.

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2017: The sophomore driver made his second career appearance in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs after 14 top-10 finishes in the 26-race regular season. Chase Elliott's Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson (left) and Kasey Kahne (right) also advanced.

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2017: Chase Elliott came very close to his first NASCAR Cup Series win again toward the end of the season at Phoenix Raceway. The then-21-year-old was racing for the fourth spot in the Championship 4 season finale and was leading until Matt Kenseth passed him with nine laps remaining, foiling his chance at a remarkable first victory.

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2017: Chase Elliott finished the season in fifth place and celebrated during Champion's Week at Las Vegas.

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2018: After eight runner-up finishes, Chase Elliott finally broke through. He held off defending race winner Martin Truex Jr. by 7.56 seconds at Watkins Glen International as the No. 78 ran short of fuel on the final lap. Elliott led 52 of the race's 90 laps en route to his first win in his 99th career start in NASCAR's premier series.

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2018: Let the celebration begin!

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2018: Chase Elliott won his second career NASCAR Cup Series race on Oct. 7 at Dover International Speedway.

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2018: When Elliott couldn't quite knock off wins in years past, he was known for saying, "I hate it for my guys." It was appropriate to see him celebrate with his No. 9 Chevrolet teammates at Dover International Speedway.

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2018: Make it three! Elliott's win at Kansas Speedway in the 2018 Playoffs gave him a trio of wins for the season.

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2018: Chase Elliott takes over the Most Popular Driver mantle from Dale Earnhardt Jr. as he officially wins the award during Champion's Week in Las Vegas.

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2019: Chase Elliott navigated treacherous Talladega Superspeedway beautifully, winning his first superspeedway race at NASCAR's top level on April 28.

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2019: Chase Elliott returned to the scene of his first NASCAR Cup Series win -- Watkins Glen -- and won it again on Aug. 4. The No. 9 Chevrolet led 80 (of 90) laps on the day and held off veteran Martin Truex Jr. in a spirited final laps battle -- just like last year. Elliott also scored an additional road win at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.

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2019: Chase Elliott overcame a "heartbreak turn" mishap just past the halfway point of the race to capture a playoff win at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.

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2019: For the second year in a row, Chase Elliott won the 2019 Most Popular Driver at the NASCAR Awards. He would also win the award in 2020.

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2020: Chase Elliott captured the "Busch bounty" and performed Kyle Busch's signature bow after beating him in a Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series event at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The $100K reward (put up by Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis and NASCAR Cup Series star Kevin Harvick) goes to a COVID-19 relief effort of Elliott's choosing. The win came days after Elliott and Busch had a run-in at Darlington Raceway in the closing laps of a Cup race while battling in the top three.

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2020: Chase Elliott won the Alsco Uniforms 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, NASCAR's fourth Cup Series race back after the COVID-19 outbreak paused on-track activity. The victory came four days after Elliott finished runner-up in the Coca-Cola 600 -- a Sunday to Thursday turn. It also marked his first 2020 win in the top ranks, securing him a spot in the NASCAR Playoffs.

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2020: Chase Elliott earned his way into the Championship 4 with his win in the Round of 8 cutoff race at Martinsville Speedway. This marks the first time Elliott has reached the Championship 4.

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2020: Chase Elliott won the Championship 4 finale at Phoenix Raceway to earn his first career NASCAR Cup Series championship.

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